Australians receiving tax advice from their financial planner should be aware that they will continue to remain unprotected for a further three months with delays in the recently introduced Tax Agent Services Regime, warns the National Institute of Accountants (NIA).
The NIA is disappointed that there has been a further delay for financial planners to become part of the Tax Agent Services Regime. The purpose of the new regime was to regulate all providers of tax advice and the exclusion of financial planners defeats its intended objective.
These delays are putting consumers at risk as the same standards that apply to other tax agents should also apply to financial planners.
NIA chief executive officer, Andrew Conway said, “The new Tax Agent Services Regime was introduced to raise minimum standards and provide the public with consumer protection mechanism when they use the services of a registered tax agent. It’s irrefutable that financial planners provide tax advice and therefore it is inconsistent that they be excluded.”
The new regime has taken over 10 years to bring all providers of tax advice under one umbrella.
“It is disappointing that financial planners will continue to be excluded from the regime by a further 3 months. At this stage consumer protection has been left out of the equation with many Australians at risk.” Mr Conway said.
