The advice industry has been granted a further 12-month extension on the requirement to comply with the Tax Agents Services Act (TASA).
Assistant Treasurer, David Bradbury, yielded to pressure from the industry and the Coalition to delay the implementation of the tax reforms, and agreed to extend the current exemption which applies to financial advisers until 30 June 2014.
Mr Bradbury made the announcement in Parliament last week, when he introduced the new Tax Laws Amendment (2013 Measures No. 3) Bill. The measures contained in the Bill were originally tabled in early June, but were removed and sent to the Parliamentary Joint Committee for Corporations and Financial Services (PJC) for a review (see: Advisers Will Need New Tax Disclaimer From 1 July).
The Government said it would also provide further clarity around the type of advice that would fall under the TASA regime, exempting factual information or ‘general’ tax advice. This includes: ‘advice provided by an insurer pursuant to payments of income protection or salary continuance insurance payments and corresponding issue of payment summary and advice therein’.
“These measures will give consumers confidence that tax advice they receive from financial advisers is provided according to the highest professional standards,” said Mr Bradbury.
He also thanked stakeholders for their “constructive input” into the development of the legislation.
The new Bill was passed by the House of Representatives and is now before the Senate. Click here to view the Bill, and related documents.
