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The Institute of Public Accountants has said the recent guidance from the Tax Practitioners Board and engagement with the industry has provided reassurance for the tax profession.
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IPA welcomes clarity from TPB on upcoming code changes
05 November 2024
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Institute of Public Accountants general manager of technical policy Tony Greco said the Tax Practitioners Board's recent engagement with industry through its guidance, consultation and webinars has provided important information on the TPB's approach to the eight obligations in the Tax Agent Services (Code of Professional Conduct) Determination 2024.
The TPB recently released six pieces of draft policy guidance on the upcoming obligations and has also been running a series of webinars that outline its approach to the changes.
Greco said it was pleasing to see that the TPB had clarified some of the terms outlined in section 15 of the determination, including what it considers to be substantial harm to the interests of others.
Under section 15 of the determination, where tax practitioners have grounds to believe that a client's actions have caused or are likely to cause significant harm to others they are required to notify the TPB or Commissioner of Taxation.
However, the TPB stressed in a recent webinar that where this occurs the practitioner will only be required to provide general information rather than detailed case information and evidence.
Greco said while this was reassuring, he cautioned that the ATO was still working out its notification process and that it was unclear how the regulators would use their new information-gathering powers for breaches they received.
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"They already have significant powers to request information and so while they're saying 'you only have to notify us, you don't need to give us too much detail', there is still some concern that their other information gathering powers may kick in after this point," he said.
"We'll have to wait and see how that plays out."
The IPA said the TPB still faces an arduous job of putting these laws into practice despite the revisions made from the original determination.
However, Greco said it was positive that the TPB had come out early with its guidance and allowed time to work through any member issues.
"The regulator has come out and given us that reassurance that the bar is quite high," he said.
"Members should avail themselves of the webinar and the guidance and take the opportunity to [contribute] to the final guidance documents."
Greco said it was also pleasing to see the TPB address many of the questions and concerns from practitioners head-on during some of the recent webinars.
"We thank them for not hiding behind their guidance and addressing a lot of the issues that were raised."
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