The Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) 2011-12 Annual Report was recently tabled in Parliament. TPB Chairman Dale Boucher said the “TPB is moving into a business as usual environment where we work with the profession to protect consumers and assure the community that registered tax practitioners meet appropriate standards of professional and ethical conduct”. As at…
The Board has also issued Information Sheet TPB(I) 15/2012 (Code of Professional Conduct – Holding money or other property on trust). It was previously issued as Draft Information Sheet TPB(I) D13/2012. Broadly, the Board says property or money will be held on trust where the tax or BAS agent receives money or other property on…
The Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) has issued Information Sheet TPB(I) 16/2012 (Do valuers need to register as tax agents?). Where the service provided by a valuer consists only of providing a valuation of certain assets or other things, and the valuer is not applying or interpreting the taxation laws to determine a client’s tax position,…
The 2011-12 Annual Report of the Inspector-General of Taxation (IGT) has been released. The report highlights some of the main themes in relation to tax administration arising in 2011-12 – this included: real time ATO compliance approaches – the IGT noted the ATO’s increasing adoption of risk management strategies that aim to assess risks at…
The Federal Court has agreed to declarations sought by the Tax Practitioners Board (the Board) that the respondent, who failed to appear before the hearing, had on 18 occasions committed contraventions of s 50-5(1) of the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (the Act) – namely, that he had provided a service that he knew or…
The Inspector-General of Taxation (IGT) on Wed 31.10.2012, announced terms of reference for his review into aspects of the ATO’s use of compliance risk assessment tools and their application in selecting taxpayers for audit or other compliance activities. Mr Noroozi noted taxpayers and tax advisers’ concerns regarding the tools’ accuracy and application. “Importantly I want…
The Inspector-General of Taxation (IGT) on Thur 25.10.2012, announced terms of reference and submission guidelines for his review into the ATO’s management of transfer pricing matters. “Stakeholder concerns about ATO transfer pricing management are not new. During consultation on my new work program it has emerged that a broader range of taxpayers may be caught…
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity is conducting an inquiry into the integrity of overseas Commonwealth law enforcement operations. The Inquiry has been asked to report on the management of corruption risks arising from the international operations of Commonwealth law enforcement agencies, including the ATO, Australian Federal Police, Australian…
The Assistant Treasurer has on Thur 4.10.2012, released the Inspector-General of Taxation’s Review into the ATO’s use of benchmarking to target the cash economy. The Inspector-General conducted this review in response to concerns raised by small businesses and tax practitioners about the ATO’s use of small business benchmarks. The Inspector-General has made 11 recommendations to…
The Inspector-General of Taxation (IGT), Mr Ali Noroozi, on Wed 10.10.2012, announced details of his new work program aimed at further improving tax administration in Australia. The new IGT work program consists of the following 5 reviews: Review into aspects of the ATO’s use of compliance risk assessment tools. Review into the ATO’s administration of…