What Is The Difference Between BAS Agent And Tax Accountant?

As a stakeholder or business owner, you cannot avoid the chance of running into all the government entities that carry different compliance needs. If you are not that well-versed with them, well, that’s okay because you will have financial compliance providers like Tax Accounts and BAS Agent to help you.

Both the BAS Agent Perth and Tax Accountant will help you stay on the correct side of the law and make sure that you do not flush your whole savings through a wrong balance sheet.

But there are is a massive difference between, even though they take care of the financial-related work. In this article, you will gain crucial information about the Tax Accountant and the BAS Agent in Australia.

BAS Agent vs. Tax Accountant: What’s The Difference?

There is a massive difference between the Tax Accountant Perth and the BAS Agents. So to know what these differences are, check the information below.

BAS AGENT

The BAS Agent, also known as Bookkeepers, will not just make sure that your books are correctly balanced. But they also have the qualification to assist and guide all the small business owners by lodging and preparing all their BAS returns. These returns cover the STP/PAYG and GST withholding dues.

The Bookkeeper will also receive the BAS Agents Registrations along with the TBP or Tax Practitioners Board. This will allow them to render BAS agent services until they have the following requirements.

Passed the Fit and Proper Persons Test.
Carries specific TBP education needs, which is a Certificate IV in Bookkeeping.
Has professional indemnity insurance.
Carries 1000 hours of experience in providing BAS services.

TAX ACCOUNTANT

The accounting professionals or senior bookkeepers within this particular role concentrate on tax compliance and tax when the tax season comes in. These registered and qualified Tax Agents who work with small businesses prepare income tax returns and tax planning. They will also make sure to keep all the tax liabilities at a manageable level. These agents stand out to be crucial [sometimes seasonal] for businesses that are currently growing.

What Can A Professional BAS Agent Do?

A professional BAS Agent has the power to provide their clients or customers provide advice, represent them at the tax office, or offer them with certainty concerning:

All matters related to GST or Goods and Service Tax.
WET or Wine Equalization Tax.
Payments of FBT or Fringe Benefits Tax.
The matter is related to LCT or Luxury Car Tax.
The Fuel Tax.
All the aspects of payment for income tax through the PAYG process.
All aspects of the payroll are related to the withholding of the tax amount, along with the reporting of the amount to the tax office and the employees.
Applications are provided to the Register for ABN or Australian Business Number on behalf of the customer or client.

What Can A Qualified Tax Accountant Do?

A highly qualified tax accountant can do many things and handle all types of complicated work related to finance. Professional tax accountants will eliminate, defer, and minimize tax payments and arrange all the audits with the taxation authorities.

The accountants have the power to prepare tax documents for all the clientele, which includes private and public businesses, private individuals, government agencies, and non-profit organizations. These tax accountants also have excellent interaction skills and can actively listen to all the requests and concerns of the clients or customers.

The Benefits Of A Qualified BAS Agent

You will surely receive many unique benefits when you hire a reliable and trusted BAS Agent or Bookkeeper. Here, within this section, you will learn about some of them.

Decipher All The Numbers: Bookkeeping is a lot more than enter data within a software program or recording the costs and sales. The BAS Agent will help you have a good understanding of the numbers and what do they mean. They will also teach you how to reach your financial reports and give you suggestions if you need to make any changes to save some funds.
Monitor The Cashflow: You have to speed up your cash flow to have enough funds to meet all your obligations. This is where the BAS Agent comes in. They have the power to keep all your transactions updated and will regularly monitor and reconcile your bank accounts.
Keep Up With All The Compliance: All businesses in Australia have a plethora of compliance, which they have to meet, such as lodging LSL/BAS/TPAR/IAS/STAP, remitting superannuation, and touch payroll on time. If you fail to keep up with all these things, you will surely land on hot water with the tax office in Australia. Your BAS Agent will help you in such matters and help you avoid all the penalties and fines. They will ensure that all your compliance is managed on time.

Benefits Of Having A Professional Tax Accountant

Tax agents or accountants can help you in many ways. Taking their services will also help you receive plenty of benefits. These benefits are:

Will Ensure That You Lodge Your Tax Returns Properly

Filing the tax on your own is not an easy job, and you might not have time for it because you have more pressing matters to take care of. This is the tax agents or accountants come in. They will ensure that you lodge your tax returns correctly and check whether you have claimed all the entitlements.

Will Make Sure That The Tax Returns Remain Compliant With The Latest Tax Laws

Professional tax accountants will check to see whether your tax returns comply with the latest tax laws, which frequently change throughout the year. Many individuals miss out on all the newest regulations and rules. The tax agent will look for all the deductions, which you are eligible for while remaining compliant. After all, you don’t wish to get audited by the Australian Tax Office or ATO.

Final Thoughts

BAS Agent and a Tax Accountant deal with the same area, but their responsibilities are different. A BAS Agent will help your business by teaching you about invoices, how to use Xero, and record bills. On the other hand, a Tax Accountant will help you with your tax returns.

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