Under the Tax Agent Services (Specified BAS Services No. 2) Instrument 2020 registered by the Tax Practitioners Board, the instrument will apply to BAS services including:
- a service under the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 to the extent that the service relates to a payroll function or payments to contractors;
- a service under the Superannuation Guarantee Charge Act 1992;
- a service under Part 3B of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993;
- a service under Part 5-30 in Schedule 1 to the Tax Administration Act 1953;
- a service under sections 202CD and 202CF of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936; or
- a service under section 9 of the A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Act 1999.
This expansion builds on the services that BAS agents have already been providing under the previous legislative instrument.
TPB chair Ian Klug said that the consultation process revealed a widely supportive response to the expansion of services that BAS agents are now permitted to offer.
“The new legislative instrument provides additional certainty and clarity for BAS agents around the services they are able to offer relating to the superannuation guarantee and SGC,” Mr Klug said.
“BAS agents are bound by the Code of Professional Conduct and must not provide the services if they do not have the requisite skills and competency.”
The ATO recently issued a reminder to businesses that they may be subject to penalties for missing the October deadline to fulfil their SG obligations.
For businesses that missed the 28 October deadline to pay their quarterly SG contributions, they need to lodge an SGC statement to the ATO by 28 November to avoid penalties.
