Tax Agent Services (Code of Professional Conduct) Determination 2024 Statement

From 1 August 2024, tax practitioners must comply with 8 new obligations that will supplement their existing Code of Professional Conduct obligations.

These new obligations were introduced by Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones to minimise risks, and strengthen the regulatory framework regarding professional misconduct to rebuild confidence in the Australian tax system. The Minister has the ability to unilaterally amend the Code via a legislative instrument.

The legislative instrument has been registered, but is yet to be tabled before Parliament, and must then pass the “disallowance” period. The stated commencement date applies, and we wait for guidance from the Tax Practitioners Board about how they intend to apply these new obligations.

In the interim, the IPA will work with other professional associations to raise concerns with the Australian Government about the recently tabled legislative Instrument that imposes new Code of Conduct obligations for agents.

Many concerns which were previously communicated to the Assistant Treasurer Jones through a joint submission with the other professional bodies about the new obligations remain following the release of the final instrument. We will continue to work with other industry stakeholders like the TPB to ensure the changes are implemented in a practical manner.

Even though it is likely that most members with a practising certificate will already meet most of the new code standards, it is important for all practitioners to familiarise themselves with them, and for them to review their practices to ensure they are compliant while we wait for guidance from the regulator.

Thank you for understanding, and please see the links for more information on the new obligations, and how to contact Assistant Treasurer Jones’s office with your concerns.

For all other inquiries, please contact your state office for assistance.