Tax Agent Services Act 2009

PART 3 - THE CODE OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT  

Division 30 - The Code of Professional Conduct  

Subdivision 30-A - The Code of Professional Conduct  

SECTION 30-10   The Code of Professional Conduct  
Honesty and integrity

30-10(1)    
You must act honestly and with integrity.

30-10(2)    
You must comply with the * taxation laws in the conduct of your personal affairs.

30-10(3)    
If:

(a)    you receive money or other property from or on behalf of a client; and

(b)    you hold the money or other property on trust;

you must account to your client for the money or other property.

Independence

30-10(4)    
You must act lawfully in the best interests of your client.

30-10(5)    

You must have in place adequate arrangements for the management of conflicts of interest that may arise in relation to the activities that you undertake in the capacity of a * registered tax agent or BAS agent.

Confidentiality

30-10(6)    
Unless you have a legal duty to do so, you must not disclose any information relating to a client ' s affairs to a third party without your client ' s permission.

Competence

30-10(7)    
You must ensure that a * tax agent service that you provide, or that is provided on your behalf, is provided competently.

30-10(8)    
You must maintain knowledge and skills relevant to the * tax agent services that you provide.

30-10(9)    
You must take reasonable care in ascertaining a client ' s state of affairs, to the extent that ascertaining the state of those affairs is relevant to a statement you are making or a thing you are doing on behalf of the client.

30-10(10)    
You must take reasonable care to ensure that * taxation laws are applied correctly to the circumstances in relation to which you are providing advice to a client.

Other responsibilities

30-10(11)    
You must not knowingly obstruct the proper administration of the * taxation laws.

30-10(12)    
You must advise your client of the client ' s rights and obligations under the * taxation laws that are materially related to the * tax agent services you provide.

30-10(13)    

You must maintain professional indemnity insurance that meets the Board ' s requirements.

30-10(14)    
You must respond to requests and directions from the Board in a timely, responsible and reasonable manner.

30-10(15)    
You must not employ, or use the services of, an entity to provide *tax agent services on your behalf if:

(a)    you know, or ought reasonably to know, that the entity is a *disqualified entity; and

(b)    the Board has not given you approval under section 45-5 to employ, or use the services of, the disqualified entity to provide tax agent services on your behalf.

30-10(16)    
You must not provide *tax agent services in connection with an *arrangement with an entity that you know, or ought reasonably to know, is a *disqualified entity.

30-10(17)    
You must comply with any obligations determined under section 30-12 .