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The Government has amended the legislation guiding registered tax practitioners to include compulsory reporting of material uncorrected errors to the Tax Commissioner.
The Government has legislated a series of changes to the Tax Agents Services Act 2009 that place additional requirements on registered tax practitioners and how they interact with clients.
The reforms are in response to the recommendations of a Senate enquiry into the actions of accounting group PwC and the consulting industry in Australia generally. The enquiry was sparked when a now former PwC Partner shared confidential information from Treasury consultations and through his engagement with the Board of Taxation. Despite having signed multiple confidentiality agreements, the Partner intentionally shared this confidential information with PwC partners and others in Australia and overseas, seeking to assist existing and potential new clients avoid some proposed anti-avoidance tax laws. The Senate enquiry estimates that the scandal put at risk $180 million in tax revenue per annum and generated new income of at least $2.5 million for the first tranche of PwC's services assisting clients to “sidestep the new laws”.
Among other issues, the scandal revealed a series of flaws and deficiencies within the regulation of tax practitioner services, the investigative powers of the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB), and the ability of Government departments to share information.
While many of the resulting legislative reforms impact consulting services to Government, we are now obligated to advise clients of: how to check the currency of our registration as tax practitioners; how to access the complaints process for registered practitioners; and, our obligation to report material uncorrected errors and omissions to the Tax Commissioner.
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