The Government has agreed to review legislation which would require financial advisers to register with the Tax Practitioners Board.
The legislation, which was voted on by the House of Representatives today, contained two Schedules (3 and 4) to bring financial advisers under the regulation of the Tax Agent Services Act (TASA). Financial advisers are currently exempt from complying with TASA, but this exemption is due to expire on 30 June 2013 (see: TASA Bill Likely to Pass House of Reps).
Assistant Treasurer, David Bradbury, yielded to pressure from the Coalition and industry stakeholders on the timing of the legislation, and moved an amendment to remove the two Schedules relating to TASA from the Tax Laws Amendment (2013 Measures No. 2) Bill 2013. The two Schedules have been referred to the Parliamentary Joint Committee (PJC) for review.
Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) Chief Operating Officer, Phil Anderson, said: “This is a good outcome for financial advisers, as the TASA amendments incorporating financial advisers were flawed and there was both a lack of adequate consultation and seriously insufficient time for implementation.”
… the TASA amendments incorporating financial advisers were flawed
He added that while the AFA accepted that financial advisers will come under the TASA regime, the industry needed sufficient time to implement the changes. The Association is now calling on the Government to extend the existing exemption for financial advisers until 30 June 2014.
The Financial Planning Association (FPA) called the referral of the Schedules ‘a win for common sense’.
“Financial Planners are licensed and regulated by ASIC to provide personal financial advice, which includes tax advice within the context of financial advice,” said Dante De Gori, the FPA’s General Manager Policy and Conduct.
“As it stands there are too many outstanding questions on this Bill with no time given to the financial planning profession and the wider financial services industry to implement associated reform by the 1 July 2013 deadline. Its referral to the PJC is the right result. We look forward to contributing to the PJC Inquiry to ensure this Bill will ultimately deliver what it’s intended to.”
For more background on TASA, see: Risk Advisers May be Caught in Tax Net.
