Member Login

You are not logged in.

- Members Area Login
- First Time Access
- Password Lookup

New Legislative Framework For Tax Agents

Finally, after over 14 years of negotiations, the Treasury has released the Exposure Draft (ED) legislation to establish a new system of registration and regulation for tax agents.The ED legislation has been released for public comment and the NTAA invites members to provide their thoughts on the proposed new system.  The NTAA is required to make a submission to Treasury by 10 August 2007.  It is intended that the NTAA submission will focus on the new civil penalty provisions and financial planners giving tax advice.  In the interim, here are the “headline” issues:

• The new system will not start before 1 February 2008 (see below)
• Under the new system, trusts are able to conduct tax agent businesses (see below)
• There are no minimum ownership percentages in companies or partnerships that operate tax agent businesses (see below)
• Existing tax agents will not have to worry about the new registration system until they renew their tax agent licenses (see below)
• All tax practitioners MUST abide by a new Code of Professional Conduct (see below)
• There will be a safe harbour from penalties introduced for clients of tax agents (see below)
• Tax agents may be subject to a CIVIL PENALTY in certain situations (see below)
• Bookkeepers will be formally licensed by the ATO to prepare BAS returns (see below)
• The definition of “tax agent services” has broadened, but financial planners can still avoid being accused of providing tax advice (see below).

Please consider the above issues and the additional information provided.  Please note, the additional information has been adapted from the Explanatory Memorandum that accompanied the ED legislation.  This material is general in nature and is not a complete account of all aspects of the new legislative system for tax agents.  The material has been prepared solely to provide you with some insights into the key issues of the new legislative system.  If you would like to see the complete ED legislation and Explanatory Memorandum, please visit the Treasury website at:

http://www.treasury.gov.au/contentitem.asp?NavId=037&ContentID=1218

The NTAA needs comments from its members to facilitate a strong submission to Treasury.    Please contact the NTAA at tax.admin@ntaa.com.au if you wish to make some comments.  Your comments are critically important to us and all feedback will be responded to by the NTAA.