When you hand your tax and financial information to an accountant or tax adviser, you are placing a considerable amount of trust in their hands.

That is why new legislation strengthening the powers of the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) is an important development for Australian taxpayers.

The Federal Parliament has passed legislation introducing significantly stronger penalties for tax adviser misconduct and greater powers for the TPB to deal with registered practitioners who do the wrong thing. It also introduces serious consequences for unregistered people who provide or advertise tax agent or BAS services for a fee.

The message behind these changes is straightforward: the people providing professional tax services should be properly qualified, registered, accountable and held to appropriate professional and ethical standards.

Registration is more than a number

Choosing a registered tax practitioner provides an important layer of protection.

Registered practitioners operate within a regulatory framework and are required to meet professional standards and comply with the Tax Agent Services Act and the Code of Professional Conduct. These obligations cover areas including honesty and integrity, competence, confidentiality and the proper management of clients’ tax affairs.

The strengthened legislation gives the regulator greater capacity to act when those standards are not met.

For clients, that matters.

Tax advice can affect much more than the size of this year’s tax return. Decisions concerning business structures, trusts, companies, investments, capital gains, superannuation and tax planning can have consequences that continue for many years.

Poor advice, inappropriate claims or inadequate compliance can leave the taxpayer dealing with the consequences long after the person who provided the advice has disappeared.

Good advice isn’t about finding the biggest refund

There can sometimes be a temptation to judge a tax adviser by how much tax they promise to save.

We think there is a much better measure.

Good tax advice should help you pay the right amount of tax, meet your obligations, legitimately make use of the opportunities available under Australian tax law and make informed decisions with confidence.

Sometimes that means identifying deductions or opportunities you didn’t know were available. At other times it means advising you not to take a position that creates unnecessary risk.

Both are part of doing the job properly.

Trust should be earned

At Indigo Financial, being a registered tax and accounting practice brings responsibilities that we take seriously.

Our clients entrust us with highly sensitive information about themselves, their families and their businesses. In return, they should expect professional competence, confidentiality, integrity and advice that considers both their immediate circumstances and their longer-term interests.

The strengthening of Australia’s tax practitioner regulatory framework is therefore something we welcome.

It reinforces an important principle for every Australian taxpayer:

Don’t simply ask what your tax adviser can do for you. Ask who you are trusting to do it.

Contact Indigo Financial on (08) 8212 8585 if you need help with understanding any of your accounting, taxation and business development needs.