Please note: This article is only relevant to Australian BAS and tax agents.
On 2nd July 2024, the Assistant Treasurer released a set of rule changes that per the determination are to be implemented by the 1st August 2024.
These changes that were delivered without warning include 8 additional obligations that have been added to the Code of Professional Conduct (TBC Code) under the Tax Agent Services Act. These will impact all BAS and Tax Agents in Australia to a varying degree.
Due to the large scale of the requirements and the short period of time to comply, the major reporting bodies have made a submission to Treasury to at a minimum defer the start date of these measures. This is to provide the Tax Practitioner's Board time to provide adequate guidance.
There are also multiple campaigns aimed at stopping or altering these rules:
Whilst the industry awaits the results of its efforts, to assist with part of your compliance with the new legislation, Ignition will be providing a new Service template to all customers.
This service template below is intended to be included in your client engagements and provides required information “in writing to current and prospective clients in a prominent, clear and unambiguous way”.
Simply create a new service in Ignition, copy and paste the details in the section below and you can start sending updated engagements to all of your clients.
To ensure your current clients are informed of any relevant matters, we would suggest sending updated terms to all of your clients.
Ignition can help you do this via the bulk engagements feature. To maintain ongoing compliance with this determination, you will also need to inform your clients within 30 days of becoming aware of any new matters. We also suggest using our bulk engagements feature for these instances as well.
The new client notification obligations can be found in Subdivision F - Other responsibilities. Alternatively you can view the excerpt in the next section of this article.
Legislation Extract
Please note: This is an extract of Subdivision F - Other responsibilities.
Tax Agent Services (Code of Professional Conduct) Determination 2024 Subdivision F - 45
Keeping your clients informed of all relevant matters
Obligation
You must advise all current and prospective clients, in the manner and form set out in subsection (2), of all of the following:
any matter that could significantly influence a decision of a client to engage you, or to continue to engage you, to provide a tax agent service;
that the Board maintains a register of tax agents and BAS agents and how they can access and search the register;
how they can make a complaint about a tax agent service you have provided, including the complaints process of the Board.
e
Manner and form requirements
Where you are required to advise clients of information covered by subsection (1), you must do so:
by giving the information mentioned in a paragraph in subsection (1), in writing, to current and prospective clients in a prominent, clear and unambiguous way; and
for information mentioned in paragraph (1)(a):
if a client makes inquiries to engage or re-engage you to provide tax agent services, and you are aware of the matter at that time—at the time of the inquiry; or
otherwise—within 30 days of becoming aware of the matter; and
for information covered by either paragraph (1)(b) or (1)(c)—upon engagement or re-engagement of a client (as the case requires), or upon receiving a relevant request.
Example
Whilst not limiting the ways in which a registered tax agent or BAS agent could satisfy subsection (2), an agent who does all of the following, in the form and within the times mentioned in subsection (2), will have given information to all their current and prospective clients as required under this section:
a. the agent publishes the information on a publicly accessible website that they use to promote the tax agent services they offer, and
b. the agent includes the information in letters of engagement or re‑engagement (as case the requires) given to each of their clients.
Service template
Please navigate to your Services tab → New service. Then, copy and paste the information below to create a new service template.
Note: You will need to add your own text wherever you see “Insert Details” as well as "Director Name".
Service Name | Keeping you informed |
Service Description | The work that we perform for you is undertaken in accordance with the Tax Agent Services Act 2009. The Tax Agent Services (Code of Professional Conduct) Determination 2024 now requires us to make the following disclosures:
Relevant Matters There have been no matters that could significantly influence your decision to engage us for Tax Agent Services since 1 July 2022 -OR- Matters that could significantly influence your decision to engage us for a Tax Agent Service since 1 July 2022 include:
Tax and BAS agent register To provide Tax and BAS services, an agent must be registered. The Tax Practitioners Board maintains a register of tax and BAS Agents that can be accessed and searched here: https://www.tpb.gov.au/public-register
Complaint Process If you have a complaint about our service, you can take the following steps to resolve this situation:
|
Price Type | Included |
Billing Mode | N/A |
Service Terms | N/A |