Tax Agent, BAS Agent, No Agent – what does it all mean ?

With the end of financial year here I have been receiving many queries and questions about lodging tax returns and if we can help.

The straight answer is NO; we cannot perform tax lodgements. But we can help – so I would like to clarify this as I think a distinction needs to be made so you truly understand your obligations when someone offers to “complete” your tax return for you.

Registered Tax Agents

The only people allowed by the Tax Practitioners Board to lodge a tax return on your behalf and charge you a fee for that service are registered tax agents. Healthy Business Finances are not registered tax agents, so we are unable to lodge tax returns for our clients. Why are we not registered agents? Because that is not my passion and I don’t deal with personal or company taxation issues every day. I deal with real life business issues and that is my focus.

I am in the process of lodging my BAS agent registration; this will mean I can lodge BAS returns directly with the ATO on behalf of my clients. So I can be the point of call between the ATO and your business on GST matters – taking away that headache for you. Again – anyone lodging a BAS and charging a fee is required by law in Australia to hold a BAS Agent licence.

Orovide Accounting Assistance And Guidance

Although Healthy Business Finances is unable to lodge the income tax returns for you, as Stacey is a qualified chartered accountant with a history of working in tax, she can provide accounting assistance and guidance – so this means ensuring your financial records are accurate, assistance with creating financial reports such as Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss, ensuring you are claiming eligible items, ensuring you are correctly classifying assets and expenses, ensuring bank accounts are reconciled and GST is accounted for correctly.

These things all should be done in order for a tax agent to lodge your tax return. We can help with all the preparatory work.

Why am I telling you that I can’t lodge your return?

Why am I telling you that I can’t lodge your return – won’t this mean I lose business? I don’t believe so. I like to think this shows the traits that I possess which in turn reflects on how I do business – with honesty, integrity and professionalism.

Helping Small Business Operate Efficiently And Effectively

My focus is on helping small business operate efficiently and effectively, by ensuring their financial information is accurate and up to date so that when it comes time to lodge income tax returns, the hard work is already done.

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