MEDIA RELEASE (AU)

Simon Grant, CA ANZ Group Executive Advocacy and International Development:

“Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) welcomes more robust and effective regulation, however rules that create inconsistencies and uncertainties work against compliance and good governance.

In practice, registered tax and BAS agents will find it difficult to comply with certain aspects of this latest Code Determination in its current form.

From the outset, CA ANZ and the other professional bodies have consistently opposed the Minister being able to unilaterally alter Code obligations, as it avoids more robust scrutiny from parliament, and our concerns are justified.

Our members are very concerned about the obligation to keep their current and prospective clients informed of “any” matter that could significantly influence a decision of a client to engage them. Any matter can include matters of a private nature like health, religion, sexual orientation, political persuasion or even sporting affiliations to name a few.

This seems very far reaching, and the profession needs further clarification from the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB). Tax and BAS agents will also have to look back to 1 July 2022 to consider if there are any matters they need to disclose to their current or prospective clients.

There is also a new obligation, which the profession was never consulted on, that now appears in the Code Determination which would require a registered tax agent to report a client to the ATO if there is an unintended material omission in a return that the agent prepared, but the client does not agree to correct or does not correct it in a reasonable time.

We believe that this change goes against the fundamental confidentiality obligation written into the Code that our members already comply with when it comes to disclosing client information without the client’s permission. It will create unnecessary disruption and confusion for tax practitioners acting lawfully in the best interests of their client.

CA ANZ is also concerned the 1 August 2024 start date for this Code Determination is unrealistic and unachievable for many tax practitioners who are already operating under regular heavy workloads and who work very hard every day to assist the country in ensuring tax revenue is calculated correctly.

It’s why the professional bodies in our joint submission on the exposure draft determination in late January this year, recommended that the roll-out be deferred by at least 6 months to allow time for TPB guidance to be developed, and for education and implementation to take place.

In that submission, the joint bodies also asked for the false and misleading statements obligation to be removed, and for the obligation to keep clients informed of all relevant matters to be re-drafted to narrow its broad-ranging scope so it is prospective and does not cover personal matters.

CA ANZ and the other professional bodies have been actively involved in this process at every opportunity and we believe more work can be done.

CA ANZ will continue to work with the other professional bodies to ensure the TASA Code of Professional Conduct is enhanced and upheld in a way that is coherent, consistent and pragmatic for our members to comply with.”