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A motion to disallow the code changes for tax agents has failed in the Senate after the Greens and senator David Pocock announced they would not support the motion.
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Code changes set to proceed after failed disallowance motion
11 September 2024
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Obligations introduced by the Assistant Treasurer look set to proceed with a motion to disallow the changes failing to gain enough votes in the Senate yesterday.
The motion moved by senator Dean Smith to disallow the Tax Agent Services (Code of Professional Conduct) Determination 2024 received 31 ayes and 31 noes in the Senate vote.
Speaking in the Senate, Labor senator Anthony Chisholm thanked the tax industry bodies for their constructive engagement on the determination.
“The government has committed to industry bodies to make further changes to the tax determination on which we intend to publicly consult on and finalise by early October,” said Senator Chisholm.
Chisholm said the government would align the obligations in section 15, the ‘dob in’ provision, with principles from the Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board Code of Ethics.
It will also look to reduce the number of items relating to disclosure in section 45 and to remove duplicated items that are already covered in other areas of law.
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The Labor senator requested that the Coalition delay the motion to give the industry time to consider the amendments.
Senator Pocock said while he shared the concerns raised by industry representatives regarding the lack of consultation and poor engagement relating to the instrument, he understood an agreement had been reached between the government and industry to work through the outstanding issues with the changes.
“I believe the government should have the opportunity to deliver on that. Should they fail to do so, then I would be happy to support a disallowance motion, but at this stage I won’t be,” he said.
Greens senator Barbara Pocock said there was a “pressing need to hold tax agents to account given all the evidence the government had heard in relation to PwC”.
“There’s been a lot of outrage about what we’ve seen and what we need is action, not deferral, which will allow us to hold the small number of tax agents that age inappropriately to account,” she said.
Chartered Accountants ANZ said Labor’s commitment to address the concerns in sections 15 and 45 in the determination was a positive for the profession.
The professional body thanked the Assistant Treasurer for his willingness to make the changes to the code to ensure it will now be clear, practical, and fair for the tax profession, as well as the millions of Australians that use their services.
“We also thank the Assistant Treasurer’s staff and Treasury representatives for listening to the tax profession’s concerns and acknowledging our constructive suggested changes were aligned with the intent of the government’s reforms,” said CA ANZ.
“We look forward to continuing to work with the Assistant Treasurer and Treasury in the next few weeks, to deliver sound legislation for the tax profession.”
CA ANZ also thanks the Coalition for its support, including Senator Smith and Luke Howarth MP, whose disallowance motion helped hasten discussions with the government.
“We thank the Senate crossbenchers who also stood with the professional bodies and tax and BAS agents to secure the commitment to these important changes,” said CA ANZ.
“We also thank our members who took the time to write to their local member of parliament to express their concerns with the Determination.”
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