We’re providing support to tax practitioners affected by Coronavirus (COVID-19). Some of the things we’re doing include waiving the requirement to complete annual declarations for some tax practitioners and temporarily revising our approach to activities that meet our continuing professional education (CPE) requirements. If your ability to meet your obligations with us is affected or you’re having difficulties renewing your registration, contact us and we’ll work with you to resolve any outstanding TPB matters.

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BAS agents can provide expanded services to their clients in response to the Australian Government’s COVID-19 stimulus package. BAS agents are legally able to advise their clients on the entitlements available under the new JobKeeper Payment and Cashflow support for business initiatives. This will allow BAS agents to support Australian businesses through this challenging time.

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The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has announced that tax agents are able to provide advice to their existing clients on early access to their super without needing to hold an Australian financial services (AFS) licence, subject to several important conditions. This is a temporary relief measure to assist clients to access affordable and timely advice during COVID-19.

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We’ve joined forces with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and professional associations to support you through COVID-19. During this crisis, we remind everyone to do the right thing. Don’t make changes to your clients’ business structures and employment arrangements that result in obtaining a benefit that would otherwise not be paid to your client. We’ll take firm action against anyone doing the wrong thing. We understand these situations can be hard to navigate and we encourage you to seek our assistance if you need advice.

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As a result of COVID-19, we’ve temporarily revised our policy on Board approved courses needing at least 40% of the total assessment completed under some form of independent supervision. Where supervised assessments can’t be conducted, alternative options such as remote or online invigilation will be accepted. These arrangements will stay in place at least for the current study period (semester/trimester). We’ll continue to monitor the situation and we’ll update you on any policy changes should they occur.

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With the impacts of COVID-19 and limited CPE face-to-face opportunities available, join us online and earn free CPE! Our webinar on Tuesday 21 April is designed for newly registered tax practitioners. Learn more about your ongoing registration obligations. On Wednesday 29 April, we’ve designed a webinar for all tax practitioners on adapting to a rapidly changing environment while still complying with your obligations with us. We’ll cover contingency planning, confidentiality of client information, cyber security and working from home.

Register now.

In this challenging environment, the ATO has postponed some of their Open Forums. You can keep an eye out on their website as they continue to monitor the situation and update their schedule. We will also keep you posted on any future available ATO Open Forums.

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We’ve compiled some of the frequently asked questions (FAQs) we received during our webinar Taking reasonable care. Find out answers related to reasonable care requirements, the Corporations Act, work-related expenses and engagement letters. 

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Beware – there’s been a significant increase in COVID-19 related scams and phishing emails. The emails are often sophisticated, preying on people’s desire for information and imitating trusted and well-known businesses or government agencies. Clicking on the malicious links or visiting fake websites can automatically install computer viruses/malware and ransomware onto your device, giving cyber criminals the ability to steal your financial and personal information. The scams are likely to increase and we strongly encourage you to stay alert!

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A tax agent had his registration terminated by the Board after being audited by the ATO which found that the agent understated his income by over $930,000. The agent failed to declare this information in his 2019 annual declaration to the Board. As a result, the Board Conduct Committee (BCC) found the tax agent was no longer a fit and proper person and terminated his registration, imposing a three-year ban on the agent applying for registration.

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Investigations into the conduct of a tax agent and his company tax agent practice have led to both tax agent registrations being terminated. The tax agent was audited by the ATO which found that he had over $317,000 worth of work-related expense claims and rental deductions that were disallowed. He also failed to comply with his company and personal tax obligations. The BCC terminated the individual and company registrations, imposing a five-year ban on both applying for registration.

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We received feedback from tax practitioners wanting a better understanding on what to expect when we conduct an investigation. As a result, we’ve updated our Investigations process information sheet to include more detailed information on the steps we follow when we investigate a tax practitioner. We’ve also included a visual flowchart that provides a quick snapshot of each of these steps.

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