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The shadow assistant treasurer has demanded the urgent withdrawal of new rules he says are unrealistic and rife with errors.
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Labor’s code changes an ‘assault’ on accountants: Opposition
19 July 2024
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The opposition has blasted the government’s changes to the tax agent code of conduct, accusing Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones of “waging war on local accountants” by introducing “unrealistic” and error-riddled obligations.
Shadow assistant treasurer Luke Howarth said Jones’ recent code changes were burdensome for practitioners to implement and would lead to additional costs being passed on to consumers during a cost-of-living crisis.
“Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones has launched a fresh assault on financial services professionals – this time directed at tax practitioners, he said in a statement released yesterday titled, “Labor wages local war on local accountants and bookkeepers”.
“Accountants have been left with little time to prepare and comply. At the busiest time of the year for many tax practitioners, they have received a red tape bomb from the Albanese government.”
The changes affecting practitioners’ disclosure, confidentiality and record-keeping obligations are due to start on 1 August.
They were introduced by a determination made by Jones, registered on 2 July, under section 30-12 of the Tax Agent Services Act (TASA), which allows him to modify the code with a legislative instrument.
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News of the changes has caused an uproar in the tax community, with practitioners criticising the lack of guidance, impending start date and broad obligations.
Professional bodies also united this week to pen an open letter addressed to Jones demanding the instrument’s withdrawal in order to correct its broad provisions that require practitioners to disclose "any" matter that could significantly influence a client's decision to engage their services.
While Jones has yet to issue a public statement, Howarth agreed the instrument must be “urgently” withdrawn to allow for further consultation with professional bodies.
“Some of these new obligations are far-reaching and potentially impossible for thousands of small tax practitioners to comply with,” he said.
“In his haphazard attempt to address bad behaviour from a few large international accounting firms, the Assistant Treasurer has caused chaos and confusion for the rest of the industry.”
He claimed “rushed and botched” overregulation had become the norm under Labor, referring to recent reforms to financial advice, and said only a Coalition government could put a stop to the overregulation.
“Labor’s war on financial services professionals must end,” he said.
“After botching long awaited reforms to reduce red tape for financial advisers, the Assistant Treasurer has turned his attention to attacking local accountants, bookkeepers and tax agents. This is yet another rushed process, without consultation and riddled with errors.”
Tony Greco, Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) general manager of technical policy, said he was pleased the Opposition acknowledged the impact of the code changes on accountants and was still waiting on a response from the government.
“We’re happy that the Opposition has responded. And we're still waiting on Mr Jones to respond to our open letter and do what we've asked – and that is to withdraw the determination,” he told Accountants Daily.
Greco said that the IPA would fight the changes “tooth and nail” if the Assistant Treasurer refused to act.
“We’re not going to allow this to end,” he said. “We'll use any avenue open to us to have this determination removed.”
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