See Item 1 Description of the main business activity on the ATO website.
The description and industry code must both be completed if any business income and expenses are entered (Item 5). If you've got more than one business interest, select the industry with the highest turnover.
What is a business industry code?
It's a five-digit code that describes your main business activity. Include it on your business income tax returns (I, C, P and T). It's used for benchmarking and helps you and the ATO to compare your business's performance against similar businesses in the same industry.
How to use the search function
- Click F10. The list of ATO industry codes displays.
- To sort the list click the Code or Description heading:
Type the first few characters of an industry.
The more characters you type, the closer you'll get to what you're looking for. If we can't find a match, we'll display the last entry in the list.
Click inside the text box, type the description you want to find and click Search. All matching industry descriptions and codes appear.
The description matching the industry code displays. You can change the description but it should still be relevant to the industry code.
- Click Select to transfer the required details to the return.
