What are the BAS Agent Laws?

The BAS Agent laws are contained within the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 and two related pieces of legislation often referred to as the “Regulations” and the “Transitional Rules”.

The commencement date is 1 March 2010.

The laws have seen the introduction of a national Tax Practitioners Board who, among other things, oversee and regulate the supply of BAS Services to the public. Only bookkeepers who have applied to the Board for registration as a BAS Agent are permitted to render BAS services to their clients. BAS services are stringently defined and capture the majority of services provided by most bookkeepers. The laws impose a range of civil penalties ranging from $5,500 to $137,500 (per offence) for illegally providing, representing that you provide, or advertising that you provide, BAS services. BAS Agents under the new system are subject to a Code of Professional Conduct which imposes a range of obligations, one of which is the compulsion to hold Professional Indemnity Insurance to a Board-specified level.

BAS Agents are also subject to a range of administrative sanctions and civil penalties. Clients of BAS Agents benefit from so-called safe harbour provisions which provide relief from penalties in the case of error or late lodgement by the BAS Agent.

AJA Bookkeeping Services and the BAS Agent Laws

AJA Bookkeeping Services has welcomed the new laws and has viewed them as necessary to our industry and for the protection of the consumers of BAS services.

AJA Bookkeeping Services has always held Professional Indemnity Insurance and will continue to do so under the new laws.

AJA Bookkeeping Services is a BAS Agent, our BAS Agent number is 96019001.

 What this means for your business

The BAS Agent Laws were introduced to protect business owners that use the services of a bookkeeper.

The result of these laws on your business is:

• Peace of mind knowing that when you use the services of AJA Bookkeeping Services, you are using a registered BAS Agent that has been and will continue to be Quality Assurance Tested.

• The ATO will look at your business favourably as you have sourced the services of a registered BAS Agent to keep your books in order.

• Part of the future legislation requires BAS service providers to undergo continual registered training. AJA Bookkeeping Services is committed to on-going training and will be able to pass on taxation and financial update information to your business.

• As a legal BAS agent AJA Bookkeeping Services has a dedicated online Business Portal. As a client of AJA Bookkeeping Services, if you choose to utilise this further accreditation, which is free of charge, and you enable us to lodge you BAS paperwork and payments, you will automatically be entitled to a 2 week extension on your BAS (excluding the October to December BAS which already has a month extension). This could considerably help your business with cash flow.