ABN Registration services are quite a frequently searched topic here in Australia. ABN stands for Australian Business Number is an 11-digit unique identification number that is registered in Australian Business Register (ABR) and is operated by Australian Taxation Office (ATO). The ABR is maintained by the commissioner of Taxation who is also the Registrar of ABR; the commissioner issues the entity a tax file number while the Registrar issues the ABN.

The ABN is an 11-digit number whose first two digits are a checksum number that help the IT Professionals or other experts to detect high-level errors and problems in the data transmission messages. Interestingly, ABN number has such an algorithm that any 9-digit number can be converted into a valid ABN number. a 2-digit checksum number is attached as a prefix to the company’s Australian Company Number (ACN) that makes the ACN a proper valid ABN.

If you are a Business in Sydney and entitled for ABN and you registered for it or if you have an ABN, then you are entitled to certain additional things like:

When you register for an ABN, you can register for GST and a business name at the same time.

You can get an AUS key for online transactions with the Government agencies.

You can be endorsed as a deductible gift recipient or an Income tax exempted charity.

Moreover, the Government uses ABN information to understand the business demographics in your local areas, so not having an ABN might sabotage you as a business.

Suppose you a Business based in Sydney, then the Government will offer benefits and consider policies on basis of your location Sydney.

For doing legitimate business and to register your business name in the registers of the Government records, you must have your business to be registered in ABR and get an ABN for your business. ABN can be issued to entities only that can be:

• An individual
• A corporate
• A Body Politic
• Association of persons
• A trust
• Superannuation fund

Apart from these entity categories, a business must have these as well:

• An enterprise based in Australia.
• An enterprise that has supply connections with Australia.
• Company registered under Corporations Act 2001.

An enterprise or company can apply for an ABN through multiple ways:

You can apply online through the Australian Business Register (ABR) website/ portal.

One can also apply through a registered Tax agent who provides ABN registration service.

You can also make a paper application with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

While applying for ABN registration, make sure that you have an active Tax File Number (TFN); otherwise, your application would get rejected as you cannot apply for ABN without having a TFN.

Australian Business Register doesn’t even charge you a single penny for applying for an ABN online or even through paper submission. However, you will be charged by an individual consultant or accountant who will assist you in the registration process.

As soon as you complete your ABN registration process, you will receive an online notification from the portal as an acknowledgement for the submission of the application.

You can know the status of your ABN application through the website of Australian Business Register (ABR). Apart from that you cannot access the ABN registration status through ABN lookup as the website shows only registered ABN with the ABR and not the ones that are in process or pending.

If your business is operating under the same company structure, then you can have an unlimited number of businesses under the same ABN number. If that is not the case, then you cannot run multiple businesses under the same ABN.

No, it is not mandatory for everybody to have an ABN. Everybody doesn’t need ABN registration so you must check if you need it or not. If your business has a turnover of more than $75,000 or more, then it becomes compulsory otherwise you cannot without one. However, it is important to file taxes and have a registered GST for your business.