An incoming set of ethical obligations for tax agents issued by Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones in time for peak tax season has come under attack from the Coalition.
Shadow Minister for Financial Services Luke Howarth has said that the new legislative instrument set to apply from 1 August has not been consulted on properly.
Howarth said that the pronouncement represents another example of overregulation for professional advisers at a time when there is a cost of living crisis and the government has botched its other legislation aim to reduce the cost of financial advice.
He joins the chorus of 10 professional associations including the Financial Advisers Association that have written a nine-page letter to Jones arguing that the determination adding to an already legislated Code of Professional Conduct is inconsistent with the provisions of the law and needs to be withdrawn.
The letter asks Jones to consult further on the detail before reissuing the document so that the concerns of the bodies about the guidance are addressed.
Concerns include the perceived breadth of the requirement to disclose relevant information that may be relevant to somebody engaging an agent, a requirement to dob a client in if they refuse to amend wrong information in a tax return that may conflict with confidentiality, the retrospectivity of the regulation as well as its application from 1 August.
“With a start date of 1 August, accountants have been left with little time to prepare and comply with the Assistant Treasurer’s new obligations,” Howarth said.
“At the busiest time of the year for many tax practitioners, they have received a red tape bomb from the Albanese Government.”
Howarth said a “haphazard” attempt to address bad behaviour from a few large international accounting firms by the minister has caused “chaos and confusion” for the rest of the industry.
“Some of these new obligations are far-reaching and potentially impossible for thousands of small tax practitioners to comply with,” Howarth said.
“Even if the Albanese Government is hellbent on stacking up more red tape for small businesses, the least it can do is implement regulatory changes fairly and ensure there are no unintended consequences.”
The determination will be the subject of a suite of webinars and educational sessions from the Tax Practitioners Board in an effort to ensure people understand the requirements of the additional elements of the Code of Professional Conduct.
An e-mail sent by the TPB on Thursday alerts registered tax agents that it will be consulting on guidance related to the new code obligations that have been the subject of controversy “in coming weeks”.
