On 29 November 2010, an options paper, Regulation of tax agent services provided by financial planners, was released for public consultation. Following an ongoing consultation process and the announcement of these changes in the 2012-13 Mid-year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO), the Government on Fri 8.2.2013, released draft legislation to implement this new regulatory regime.
It will be necessary to amend both the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 and the Tax Agent Services Regulations 2009 to give full effect to the announcement. However, the Government has not yet finalised the amendments to the Regulations as they will be contingent on the final form of the draft legislation. Nonetheless, to assist in this consultation process, the Government also on Fri 8.2.2013, released a short paper outlining the proposed changes to the Regulations that would implement the new regime in full.
The draft legislation and outline paper are on the Treasury website.
COMMENTS are due by 8 March 2013.
[LTN 26, 8/2/13]