Tax Practitioners Board

Goody Two-Shoes

Recently I was asked by a client to put a hold on the payment of his employee’s SGC (super guarantee contribution) due to an ongoing dispute between them. I of course, refused to do this because it is illegal to hold SGC payments and/or not pay them at all. Did I do this because I’m a little “Goody Two-Shoes” who always does the right thing? Well, to be honest, there probably is a little bit of that involved, but the real reason why I didn’t play the game with that client is that I am a BAS Agent. As such, I am bound by a strict code of conduct which dictates what I can and cannot do. If being a BAS Agent also means you have to be a “Goody Two-Shoes” then so be it – I’m guilty as charged.

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5 jobs your BAS Agent can’t do for you……

Following on from our previous blog, “20 jobs your BAS Agent can do for you”, I thought that it would also be good to advise you on the sorts of jobs your BAS Agent can’t do for you. BAS Agents are bound by a strict code of conduct as handed down by the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) which among other things, forbids them from providing clients with Tax Agent services for a fee. Read on to see a list of these services.

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20 jobs your BAS Agent can do for you!

BAS Agents are now a very important part of the tax compliance landscape. They have been floating around since 2010 when the first group of agents became registered with the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) after the passing down of TASA 2009. TASA 2009 is legislation that makes it illegal for anyone to charge a fee for providing tax and BAS Services without first being registered. Unfortunately, who BAS Agents are and what they do, has not been widely publicised by the TPB and as a result, many business owners have either never heard of them or certainly aren’t aware of what they do. Today’s blog, therefore, is about educating business owners about what BAS Agents can do for them in terms of their tax compliance and other related tasks. To this end, I have created a list of 20 tasks BAS Agents can do for business owners, of which perhaps they may not be aware. See below:

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Any Tom, Dick, and Harry can prepare and lodge the BAS… but should they?

It’s a well known fact that almost everyone can prepare and lodge the Business Activity Statement (BAS). Those who charge a fee for this task must become registered with the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) as stipulated by the TASA 2009 legislation. Others, however, who fit certain criteria (see below) don’t have to register but can still prepare and lodge BAS. So we have registered and unregistered persons doing the same job. The question is, should unregistered persons be preparing and lodging BAS in the first place? I don’t think so, and here’s why:

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How has the TASA Legislation Changed?

As of 30 June 2013, the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA) has been amended. What parts of the legislation have been amended and how does this affect BAS/Tax Agents? There are 5 main areas of the TASA 2009 legislation that have changed. These areas include:

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Tax Agent Services Act 2009

The Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA 2009) together with two other pieces of legislation known as “Regulations” and “Transitional Rules” make up the legislation or new laws that now govern the behaviour and business dealings of all bookkeepers, tax agents and now, the newly termed, “BAS Agents”. TASA 2009 was enacted on 1st March 2010.

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Source Documents & Our Obligations as BAS Agents

This is part 3 in our blog series about source documents. In parts 1 and 2 we explained what source documents are, why they’re important, and also how our clients deal with them. Today we will look at how the legislation which guides us as BAS Agents impacts the way we work with source documents.

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How BAS/Tax Agents can advise of a change of contact details

If you are a registered BAS Agent or Tax Agent, you are obliged to advise both the ATO and the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) of any change of your contact details.

Some BAS/Tax Agents are under the impression that if they advise the TPB of any change of their details, that the TPB will automatically advise the ATO of this information. This is not the case! You must advise both the ATO & the TPB of your details changes in order to keep them up to date. The TPB only advises the ATO of approved or cancelled registrations. They don’t exchange any changes in personal contact data.
 
 
 
The contact data you must advise the ATO & TPB about include:
  • Postal address
  • Telephone number
  • Fax number
  • Email address
 
 
To advise the ATO, you can call them on 1800 443 846.
 
 
 
To advise the TPB of any contact details changes, go to their website www.tpb.gov.au, select Agent Log-in, enter your log-in details and then choose Your Profile. Enter your contact detail changes as required. You can also send an email to the TPB via enquirymanagement@tpb.gov.au to advise them of any changes.
 
 
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The Tax Practitioner’s Board: Who & What?

On 1st March 2010, the six individual tax agent boards were replaced with one single board: The Tax Practitioners Board (TPB). This board was established as part of the new law, the Tax Agent Services Act 2009. The TPB has several responsibilities. Some of these include:

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