Under the Financial Sector Reform (Hayne Royal Commission Response—Better Advice) Act 2021 (Better Advice Act), from 1 January 2022, tax (financial) advisers are no longer regulated by the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB).
The following questions and answers should help you understand the changing regime for tax (financial) advisers and your registration with the TPB.
Why has the Government changed the regulation of tax (financial) advisers?
In 2019, the Government announced an independent review into the effectiveness of the TPB and the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA) to ensure that tax agent services are provided to the public in accordance with appropriate professional and ethical standards.
On 27 November 2020, the Government released the final report and its response to the independent review. The TPB Review recommended (Recommendation 7.1) that, in alignment with implementing recommendation 2.10 of the Financial Services Royal Commission Final Report, a new model be developed for regulating tax (financial) advisers in consultation with Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA), the TPB and Treasury.
The Government agreed in-principle to implement recommendation 7.1 by ensuring that the new disciplinary regime for financial advisers also applies to individual tax (financial) advisers.
On 9 December 2020, the Government announced that it would deliver Recommendation 2.10 from the Financial Services Royal Commission, which recommended a single disciplinary body be established and all financial advisers who provide personal financial advice to retail clients be registered.
To implement recommendation 2.10, the Government decided to expand the operation of the existing Financial Services and Credit Panel by giving it additional functions and powers with respect to financial advisers.
As part of the 9 December 2020 announcement, the Government also announced that it would wind-up the FASEA and transfer its functions to the Minister responsible for administering the Corporations Act 2001 (Corporations Act) and ASIC.
When were the changes to establish the new single disciplinary body finalised?
The Better Advice Act and the Financial Sector Reform Amendment (Hayne Royal Commission Response—Better Advice) Regulations 2021 (Better Advice Regulations) commenced on 1 January 2022.
What is in the Better Advice Act?
The Better Advice Act further streamlines the number of bodies involved in the oversight of financial advisers from 1 January 2022. In summary, the Act seeks to:
- strengthen the financial advice sector and establish a single disciplinary body for financial advisers, requiring all financial advisers who provide personal financial advice to retail clients to be registered
- expand the role of the Financial Services and Credit Panel within ASIC to operate as the single disciplinary body for financial advisers to ensure that less serious misconduct does not go unaddressed
- create additional penalties and sanctions for financial advisers who have breached their obligations under the Corporations Act 2001
- transfer functions from FASEA to the Minister responsible for administering the Corporations Act 2001 and to ASIC to streamline the regulation of financial advisers
- ensure that tax (financial) advisers will no longer be regulated by the TPB but instead will be regulated only under the Corporations Act 2001.
What does the Better Advice Act mean for me and my tax (financial) adviser registration with the TPB?
Generally, if you were a financial adviser (also referred to as a relevant provider by ASIC) who was also a registered individual tax (financial) adviser with the TPB immediately before 1 January 2022, you were:
- deemed to be registered as a relevant provider with ASIC (under Stage 1) from 1 January 2022, and
- taken to be a qualified tax relevant provider from 1 January 2022 generally.
Similarly, if you submitted an application to the TPB to register as an individual tax (financial) adviser prior to 31 December 2021 and your application was granted on or after 1 January 2022, you were generally 'deemed' to be registered with ASIC as a relevant provider, and taken to be a qualified tax relevant provider, from the date your application was granted by the TPB.
Note: From 16 February 2024, all relevant providers must be registered with ASIC before providing personal advice to retail clients about relevant financial products. This includes relevant providers who intend to provide tax (financial) advice services. For further information refer to Information Sheet 276 (INFO 276) on the ASIC website.
If you are not a relevant provider (for example, you provide advice to wholesale clients only) but you were a registered individual tax (financial) adviser as at 31 December 2021, you will not be deemed registered with ASIC. You must be registered with the TPB as a tax agent* to legally provide tax (financial) advice services for a fee. Learn more about registration options for wholesale advisers.
Should a company or partnership, previously registered as a tax (financial) adviser, register as a tax agent to provide tax (financial) advice services?
To provide tax (financial) advice services, a company or partnership must be:
- registered as a tax agent* with the TPB, or
- ensure that all individuals providing tax (financial) advice services on its behalf are either:
- registered tax agents,* or
- qualified tax relevant providers (i.e. relevant providers registered with ASIC who meet the requirements of the Relevant Providers Determination).
What should a person or an entity (not registered with the TPB or ASIC) do to legally provide tax (financial) advice services for a fee?
The table below provides scenarios to help you understand what an unregistered individual or entity should do to ensure they can legally provide tax (financial) advice services for a fee.
| Scenario | What you need to do to legally provide tax (financial) advice services | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Individual who is a financial adviser | You need to apply to:
|
| 2 | Individual who is not a financial adviser | You need to apply to register as a tax agent* with the TPB. For further information about the requirements to register with the TPB, see Registering as an individual tax agent to provide tax (financial) advice services. |
| 3 | Company or partnership entity | The company or partnership must either be:
For further information about the requirements to register with the TPB, refer to Registering as a company or partnership tax agent. For further information about relevant provider registration, see ASIC Information Sheet 268 (INFO 268). |
You can also refer to Registration options for providing tax (financial) advice services from 1 January 2022.
If I am a corporate authorised representative with ASIC and provide tax (financial) advice services, do I need to register with the TPB as a tax agent to provide these services?
If a company wants to provide tax (financial) advice services from 1 January 2022, the company will need to either be:
- a tax agent* registered with the TPB, or
- ensure that all persons providing tax (financial) advice services on the company's behalf are either:
- registered tax agents* or,
- qualified tax relevant providers (that is, relevant providers registered with ASIC who have met the requirements of the Relevant Providers Determination).
My TPB registration as a tax (financial) adviser is still current. Am I allowed to use the Registered tax practitioner symbol?
If you are also a relevant provider who provides tax (financial) advice services, you may use the Registered tax practitioner symbol (symbol) until your TPB registration expires.
However, if you are not a relevant provider with ASIC, you are not permitted to use the symbol. This is because your tax (financial) adviser registration ceased on 1 January 2022, and you would no longer meet the certification requirements for using the symbol.
I am seeking to register my company as a tax agent to provide tax (financial) advice services. What types of individuals can I use to meet the sufficient number requirement?
The company must have registered individual tax agent(s)* to meet the sufficient number requirement. These individual tax agent(s) may include those with a condition of providing tax (financial) advice services only.
However, if the company only uses these conditional (individual) tax agent(s), we may impose a condition on the company’s registration also to provide only tax (financial) advice services.
For further information about sufficient number requirements, refer to Supervision and control – tax agents.
If supervised advisers were not able to register with the TPB before 1 January 2022, can they continue to provide tax (financial) advice services? Will the supervisory relationship continue to exist?
The transitional arrangements ended on 31 December 2022. Therefore, to legally provide tax (financial) advice services, they must be:
- registered as a tax agent* with the TPB, or
- be a qualified tax relevant provider with ASIC (that is, a relevant provider registered with ASIC who has met the requirements of the Relevant Providers Determination).
If my client does not rely on the advice I provide for tax purposes, can you confirm that it is not considered a tax (financial) advice service under the Better Advice Act?
Yes. The Better Advice Act does not change the definition of a tax (financial) advice service.
If it is not reasonable to expect the client to rely on your advice for tax purposes, then the advice is not considered a tax (financial) advice service.
If I make a complaint to the TPB about a tax (financial) adviser, will the TPB handle my complaint?
The TPB will be able to consider your complaint so long as the complaint relates to conduct that occurred before 1 January 2022.
If your complaint relates to conduct after 1 January 2022, contact ASIC.
I am a member of a professional association accredited by the TPB as a recognised tax (financial) adviser association. Does this accreditation still exist?
No. From 1 January 2022 the TPB is no longer able to recognise (or continue to recognise) associations as 'recognised tax (financial) adviser associations'.
Do AFS licensees have to apply as a tax agent as we receive the fees on behalf of our advisers, even where we pass on the fee in full?
Generally, the individual or entity that invoices for the tax (financial) advice services provided must be registered.
Refer to an earlier question where we have discussed different scenarios.
I will be looking to surrender my tax (financial) adviser registration with the TPB before it expires, will you refund the fee I paid to the TPB?
Under the TASA there are no refunds if you wish to surrender your registration part way through your registration period as the fee paid was an application fee.
Where can I get more information?
For further information, refer to:
Register of individual tax (financial) adviser (TFAs)
Under the Better Advice Act from 1 January 2022, the TPB ceased regulating tax financial advisers (TFAs), as a new regime commenced under the responsibility of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
The attached document contains a list of individuals who were registered as tax (financial) advisers with the TPB as at 31 December 2021. As such, the data in this list is only accurate as at 31 December 2021. This list is being made available by the TPB to assist entities transitioning to the new ASIC regime.
For current information on individuals who are authorised to provide TFA services, please refer to the Financial Advisers Register for details.
* Note: Where asterisked (*), the term ‘tax agent’ is used in these FAQs to refer to those with no condition on their registration or those with a condition on their registration to provide only tax (financial) advice services.
Last modified: 22 February 2024