Enter the new legislation — Tax Agent Services Act 2009
which:
-
Recognises the importance of
Contract
bookkeepers to the BAS system
-
Defines the
meaning of a BAS Service as a service:
a)
that relates to:
-
ascertaining the liabilities, obligations or entitlements of an entity that
arise, or could arise, under a *BAS provision; or
-
advising an entity about the liabilities, obligations or entitlements of the
entity or another entity that arise, or could arise, under a BAS provision;
or
-
representing an entity in their dealings with the Commissioner in relation
to a BAS provision [e.g. lodging a BAS return]; and
b)
that is provided in circumstances where the entity can reasonably be
expected to rely on the service.
-
Defines a person registered to give
BAS advice and lodge BAS returns as a “BAS Agent”
-
Defines the
qualifications required by a BAS Agent
-
Defines the
relevant experience required by a BAS Agent
-
Prescribes that a
BAS Agent must hold professional indemnity insurance
-
Prescribes a Code
of Professional Conduct for BAS Agents
-
Prescribes a
civil penalty provision which will enable fines of up to $27,500 to be
inflicted on non-registered bookkeepers posing as BAS Agents by the issue of
a notice rather than the current criminal fine which requires a court
appearance
-
Details the
Transitional provisions from the “current” law to the “new’ law
The tax agent
services legislative package consists of the:
The “commencement date” of the new law was 1 March 2010 and it is expected that the law will not only
be enforced by the Tax Practitioners Board (referred to
hereafter as just the "Board" or as TPB) but also by registered BAS Agents “dobbing in” non-registered bookkeepers
offering BAS services.
The new rules for all entrants to the
bookkeeping industry: For bookkeepers entering the industry
after
after the 1st September 2010 (whether they have any bookkeeping
experience or not and whether they have been running a contract bookkeeping
business in the past or not) there will be a significant “barrier to entry”
in that they must:
-
hold one of the following academic
qualifications
-
and
-
or is a voting member of an RPA and
has undertaken at least 1,000 hours of relevant experience in the preceding
three years.
Relevant experience means work by an individual:
- as a tax
agent or BAS agent registered under the TASA 2009
- as a tax
agent registered under Part VIIA of the ITAA 1936
- under the
supervision and control of a tax agent or BAS agent
registered under the TASA 2009
- under the
supervision and control of a tax agent registered under Part
VIIA of the ITAA 1936
- of another
kind approved by the Tax Practitioners Board
in the course of which the individual's
work* has included substantial involvement in one or more types
of BAS services.
*'Work by an individual of a kind approved
by the Board' is a matter for the Board to determine.
See Schedule 2, Part 1, Division 2, item 103 of TAS Regulations
2009.
Source:
http://www.tpb.gov.au/TPB/BAS_agents/FAQ/TPB/BAS_agents/FAQ_for_BAS_agents.aspx
Definition of a course in basic goods
and services tax/BAS taxation principles:
The TPB has issued a "BAS
Agent Registration Skill Set" for persons who are seeking
registration as a BAS Agent with the Tax Practitioners Board in
which they advise that the following units meet the requirements for
“a course in basic GST/BAS taxation principles that is approved by
the Board”, which is one of the educational requirements for
registration as a BAS agent with the Tax Practitioners Board:
The TPB also advise that persons
seeking BAS agent registration should check with the Tax
Practitioners Board for details of other current registration
requirements, including those relating to experience, fitness and
propriety.
These two units form part of the
BIA Certificate IV in Bookkeeping and can also be studied as
individual units.
What is a
BAS service:
Under the TASA 2009, a BAS service
is a tax agent service that relates to:
-
ascertaining or advising
an entity about the liabilities, obligations or entitlements of
the entity, or another entity, that arise, or could arise, under
a BAS provision
-
representing an entity
in dealings with the Commissioner in relation to a BAS provision
that is provided in circumstances where the
entity can reasonably be expected to rely on the service for the
purpose of
-
satisfying liabilities
or obligations that arise, or could arise, under a BAS
provision, or
-
to claim entitlements
that arise, or could arise, under a BAS provision.
A BAS service therefore includes, but is not
limited to:
-
preparing or lodging an
approved form about a taxpayer's liabilities, obligations or
entitlements under a BAS provision
-
giving a taxpayer advice
about a BAS provision that the taxpayer can reasonably be
expected to rely upon to satisfy their obligations
-
dealing with the
Commissioner on behalf of a taxpayer in relation to a BAS
provision.
See section 90-10 of the TASA
2009.
What is a BAS provision?
BAS provisions include:
-
GST law
-
wine equalisation tax
law
-
luxury car tax law
-
pay as you go (PAYG)
instalments
-
PAYG withholding
-
fuel tax law
-
fringe benefits tax
instalments (relating to collection and recovery only).
See section 995-1 of the Income
Tax Assessment Act (ITAA) 1997.
Who
needs to register as a BAS agent?
This means that people providing BAS services
for their employer (and are paid a wage for their services) do not
need to register.
What does this mean
for people who want to enter the
bookkeeping industry: For
bookkeepers seeking employment —
nothing at all. Employed bookkeepers
are not required by law to be
qualified or have any experience.
However employers will more and more
be expecting applicants for
bookkeeping jobs to hold a
Certificate IV in Bookkeeping — and
from a well known and respected
training organisation.
For bookkeepers who want to start
their own Contract Bookkeeping Service it means that they must hold
at least a Certificate IV in Bookkeeping AND have spent up to 1,400
hours working under the supervision and control of a tax agent or
BAS agent.
Now before you give up on the idea
of a contract bookkeeping career read on . . .
BIA has the
answer:
By enrolling in
the Certificate IV Bookkeeping
with the
Bookkeeping Institute of Australia
students are not only able to obtain an academic qualification that meets
the requirements of the new law but as membership of the Australian Bookkeepers Network
(ABN) is included in the enrolment fee they are also able to provide BAS
services legally under the
new law.
Enter ABN BAS . . .
ABN BAS is a Registered BAS Agent
firm that exclusively services members of the Australian
Bookkeepers Network (ABN) and their clients. ABN BAS offers a
range of services to benefit both BAS Agents and non-BAS Agents. ABN
BAS is a separate entity to ABN and has its own web site at
www.abnbas.net, however ABN
and ABN BAS share the same directors, staff and business premises.
Membership of ABN BAS is complimentary and automatic for all
Australian Bookkeepers Network (ABN) members.
The main service offering of ABN BAS relates
to Activity Statements and is two fold:
-
They perform Quality Assurance Reviews of
Activity Statements for both BAS Agents and non-BAS Agents; and
-
Act as the BAS Agent for clients of ABN
members who are not BAS Agents themselves, and attend to the
electronic lodgement of their client’s Activity Statements with
the ATO.
BAS Lodgement through ABN BAS
With ABN BAS, it is not necessary
for the bookkeeper to relinquish control of their client to a
competing bookkeeping firm. Instead, ABN BAS – as a BAS Agent in its
own right – can review and lodge the BAS for the client.
This enables the non-BAS Agent
bookkeeper to retain the control of the client relationship and pay
a per-BAS lodgement fee to ABN BAS, which can either be on-charged
or marked-up to the client.
ABN BAS are able to do this by
performing a detailed Quality Assurance Review and by the
completion by the non-BAS Agent bookkeeper of their sophisticated
Excel tool, BAS Wizard.
Tax Practitioners Board: The following information sheets, application forms
and exposure drafts, which have
been published on the TPB's web
site, should be studied for further
information:
Exposure Drafts:
