New BAS Agent obligations effective from 1 August 2024.
New Code Determination to the Professional Standards for Tax Practitioners
- In addition to your clients record keeping obligations, registered practitioners are required to retain “all information underpinning a BAS/IAS”
- Tax practitioners are required to keep records that correctly record the tax agent services provided, or that are provided on the practitioner’s behalf, to each of their clients, including former clients. Records must be in English or easily convertible to English and must be retained for at least five years after the service was provided. New obligation to maintain a written record of “any verbal information your client provides to you in relation to your BAS Service”. Records must show the nature, scope and outcome of the tax agent service provided, and for complex matters may include the relevant facts, assumptions and reasoning underpinning advice provided to the client.
- Registered practitioners must “establish and maintain” an appropriate Quality Management System (QMS) in relation to the BAS Services provided. Tax practitioners must establish a system of quality management which is designed to provide reasonable confidence of compliance with the Code. You must also document and enforce the policies and procedures of the system. A system of quality management includes policies and procedures relating to governance and leadership, performance monitoring, adherence to the Code, client engagement, proper keeping of records, protecting confidentiality of information, managing conflicts of interest, and the recruitment, training and management of employees. Our team is working hard to develop a QMS System to help you comply with the new Code obligations.
- Tax practitioners must ensure that adequate supervision is offered to each entity providing tax agent services on their behalf, and these entities have the relevant skills to provide services competently. This will require tax practitioners to ensure that unregistered staff providing tax agent services on their behalf are provided with adequate training, and substantive review and sign-off of work is conducted.
- Registered practitioners must advise all current and prospective clients “any matter that could influence a decision to engage or continue to engage you”.
- A registered practitioner must not permit a statement to be made by someone else, including the client) that they know to be false or misleading. If such a statement is made:
- The registered practitioner must notify the person (the client) to correct it;
- If the person (the client) fails to correct it, the registered practitioner must notify the ATO or the TPB.
- Tax practitioners are prohibited from disclosing information from an Australian government agency that was obtained directly or indirectly in connection with activities they undertake for the government agency. The exceptions are where there is a legal duty or disclose or where the agency authorised such disclosure. The information cannot be used for the advantage of the practitioner, or their associate, employee, employer or client, other than where authorised by the agency. There is no requirement for information to be marked as confidential for this rule to apply. It is not necessary that the use was likely or guaranteed to result in an advantage — a potential advantage is sufficient.
- Tax practitioners are required to take reasonable steps to identify, document, manage, mitigate and avoid any material conflicts of interest related to an activity undertaken for an Australian government agency. They must disclose details of a material conflict — whether real or potential — to the government agency as soon as they become aware of the conflict.
Sonya Farrawell, My CPE CEO