Deductibility of Advice Fees – Your Verdict

Just over eight in 10 respondents to our latest poll either agree, or are open to the possibility, that the ATO’s recent determination on the tax deductibility of advice fees will have a positive impact on their ability to attract new clients to their advice business.

As we go to press 45% of respondents to our poll agree with the premise that the ATO determination will have a positive impact, while a sizable cohort of 36% is unsure as to its impact as yet.

Just 18% disagreed.

As we had earlier reported, the ATO’s recent determination had prompted the FAAA to project that a significant portion of a typical advice fee will become tax deductible for the clients of many advisers and advice practices (see: Significant Portion of Advice Fees Could be Tax Deductible).

…the association saw this latest determination as marking a big improvement over the original interpretation…

The association saw this latest determination as marking a big improvement over the original interpretation applied by the tax office, which did not support deductions for the cost of any components of upfront advice.

The FAAA now believes a significant portion of a typical advice fee will be deductible for the clients of many advisers and practices, where one of the flow-on effects, it can reasonably be argued, is that the potential for greater deductibility of advice fees should help make financial advice more affordable and therefore more accessible for more Australians.

Our poll is open for another week and we welcome your thoughts…