The Government has amended the legislation guiding registered tax practitioners to include compulsory reporting of significant uncorrected errors to the Tax Commissioner.
The Government has legislated a series of changes to the Tax Agents Services Act 2009 that place additional requirements on registered tax practitioners, like AustAsia Accounting Services, and how we interact with clients.
The reforms are in response to the recommendations of a Senate enquiry into the actions of accounting group PwC and the consulting industry in Australia generally. The enquiry was sparked when a now former PwC Partner shared confidential information from Treasury consultations and through his engagement with the Board of Taxation. Despite having signed multiple confidentiality agreements, the Partner intentionally shared this confidential information with PwC partners and others in Australia and overseas, seeking to assist existing and potential new clients in avoiding some proposed anti-avoidance tax laws. The Senate enquiry estimates that the scandal put at risk $180 million in tax revenue per annum and generated new income of at least $2.5 million for the first tranche of PwC’s services assisting clients to “sidestep the new laws”.
Among other issues, the scandal revealed flaws and deficiencies in regulating tax practitioner services, the Tax Practitioners Board’s (TPB) investigative powers, and Government departments’ ability to share information.
While many of the resulting legislative reforms impact consulting services to the Government, we are now obligated to advise clients on the following:
- how to check the currency of our registration as tax practitioners;
- how to access the complaints process for registered practitioners; and,
- our obligation to report significant uncorrected errors and omissions to the Tax Commissioner.
Tax practitioner registration
The TPB registers and regulates tax practitioners in Australia. Only licensed practitioners can provide tax or BAS services to you. You can check the public register here: https://www.tpb.gov.au/public-register
AustAsia Accounting Services Pty Ltd
Tax Agent Number: 7587 3005
Managing complaints
All of us at AustAsia Group are committed to providing you with quality services. If we fall short of your expectations and you would like to make a complaint, please contact Simon Chesson by phone or email in the first instance.
If your matter is not resolved to your satisfaction, you have the right to make a complaint to the TPB: https://www.tpb.gov.au/complaints.
Correcting errors and omissions
We are prohibited from making a statement to the Tax Commissioner or other government agency that we know, or ought to know, is false, incorrect or misleading, or incorrect or misleading by omission.
If we become aware that a statement made to the Tax Commissioner is materially incorrect, we are obligated to either:
- Correct it if we made the misstatement; or
- If the misstatement was made by you, advise you that it needs to be corrected.
If the misstatement is not corrected, we are obligated to report this to the Tax Commissioner.
Concerned?
If you have any concerns about the changes, please contact us
