A BAS Agent is issued a licence that says they can:
Advise a client, provide certainty to a client or represent that client to the tax office in relation to:
* All GST matters
* All Wine Tax, Fuel Tax, Luxury Car Tax matters
* Payment of FBT
* All aspects of Payroll that relate to the withholding of tax amounts and the reporting of that amount to the employee and the Tax office
* All aspects of other PAYG Withholding amounts: ie no ABN, Interest & Dividend
* All aspects of the payment of income tax via PAYG Installments
A Tax Agent can also do these and then other areas of tax also.
What does this mean?
A registered Agent may:
* Design and set up compliance systems
* Advise the client on how the above areas of law effect them
* Review a client's operations in relation to these areas of law and provide certainty to that client that they are getting it right.
These tasks cannot be done by a bookkeeper who is not a registered Agent.
So, what can a Bookkeeper do who is not a BAS Agent?
* They can follow systems designed by others
* They can process
* They can reconcile and produce results but not if the client is relying on those, without further action to be certain that they are meeting their obligations
* They should raise questions and not answer them
A BAS Agent can be a business with one or more qualified persons (registered BAS Agent/s) and others working, performing BAS Services, being supervised and controlled by the qualified person. This is legal!