Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) has lodged our submission on Exposure Draft (ED) Explanatory Paper TPB(EP) D43/2021 Continuing professional education policy requirements for registered tax and BAS agents.

CA ANZ agrees with the TPB's rationale for ensuring that Continuing Professional Education (CPE) requirements are sufficient and relevant, namely that "[o]ngoing education enhances the integrity of the tax profession, better supports client needs, and builds community confidence in the tax system."

However, the CPE requirements must strike the right balance between achieving CPE's objective of ensuring the desired currency of knowledge, competency of skills, and integrity in practice, while not being so onerous that they overwhelm practitioners and prevent them from efficiently and effectively servicing their client's needs in a professional, diligent and timely manner. That is, the regulatory burden must not be prohibitive, excessive or inhibit broader government policies from being achieved, such as red tape reduction, gender balance and workforce participation by women.

Key points raised in the submission were:

1. CA ANZ considers that the main proposed change, being an increase in the CPE hours to 120 hours of tax CPE per triennium, with a minimum 20 hours per year, which will apply to all tax practitioner categories, is excessive. We do not support this proposal in the ED for several reasons, including how the TPB's CPE requirements integrate with the broader professional body requirements, the relative scope of services of different practitioner categories, the regulatory burden, the Board's proposed timing and transition, and the application of the "sufficient nexus" test.
2. A reduced CPE hours allowance should be made for part-time tax practitioners.
3. The list of CPE topics should be reconsidered for further kinds of CPE and allowable formats of CPE, in particular the inclusion of 'on the job' and other real world CPE learning opportunities within the tax system.
4. A full review of all examples should be undertaken to ensure that the law and scenarios on which they are based is current.
5. Additional examples should be included to illustrate and clarify the TPB's views, such as the meaning of "relevant" CPE and the concession around recognition of compliance with professional body CPE requirements.