The introduction of our Adviser Strategy, under the Tax Avoidance Taskforce, will help strengthen the integrity of the tax and super systems by recognising the important role advisers have in supporting businesses.
It will apply to many adviser types, including tax and BAS agents, insolvency practitioners, legal practitioners, research and development consultants, and financial advisers. They all play a valuable role in helping businesses with their tax and super affairs. The law can be complex, so it's essential that:
- businesses have access to high-quality advice
- we support advisers to provide appropriate advice to their clients.
Under this strategy, we're expanding our use of data to identify risks, behaviours of concern, and common errors. We'll progressively share these insights with advisers and their clients, to support them to put corrective actions in place. Wherever possible, our focus is on prevention rather than correction.
We recognise that most advisers do the right thing and uphold high ethical standards. As part of our strategy, we'll be showcasing the best practices we see many advisers already using. That way, others can adopt the same high standards in a way that works for their business.
For example, some of the best practices we see many advisers adopting include:
- keeping up to date with developments in the areas of tax and super law that they advise on
- understanding their client's business and having the right information and records to lodge correctly
- encouraging their clients to use digital solutions, such as accounting and point of sale software
- engaging positively with us
- ensuring their own tax and super affairs are in order
- being dedicated to promoting ethical and compliant tax strategies, including not engaging in or endorsing tax exploitation schemes.
You can find out about how we're already working with the tax profession, with more information on the Adviser Strategy available soon.