We are committed to continually improving our guidance to make it easier for you to understand and comply with your obligations.

Based on recent feedback from the Tax Practitioners Board Consultation and Standards Forum, we have reviewed and updated some policy guidance we published to clarify your obligations under the Tax Agent Services (Code of Professional Conduct) Determination 2024 (Code Determination) and the breach reporting requirements.

The updates expand, and provide additional clarity, on the scope of the requirements in the following guidance.

False or misleading statements

We have updated TPB(I) 45/2024 False or misleading statements to clarify the circumstances when you will be required to take action versus taking ‘further action’ when you believe a statement made to the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) or the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) was materially false or misleading. 

We have also provided additional clarity in relation to the interaction of the false or misleading statements obligation with other Code obligations, particularly in relation to the requirement to act in the best interests of your client and maintain client confidentiality.

Finally, we have provided additional information in relation to the application of the whistleblower provisions in the context of the false or misleading statements obligation. 

Managing conflicts of interest when undertaking activities for government

We have clarified the scope of your obligations under section 20 of the Code Determination in our guidance TPB(I) 46/2024 Managing conflicts of interest when undertaking activities for government and maintaining confidentiality in dealings with government. 

You have an obligation to disclose a material conflict of interest to an Australian government agency in relation to an activity you undertake for the agency. This obligation is not limited to your own material conflicts of interest. The guidance clarifies that the obligation extends to any other relevant person or entity’s conflict of interest, such as an employee or associate.

Breach reporting

In our guidance TPB(I) 43/2024 Breach reporting under the Tax Agent Services Act 2009, we have clarified the circumstances where you will be required to report a significant breach of the Code. In particular, if you are not certain that a significant breach has occurred, but you have reasonable grounds to believe and a reasonable basis for your judgement, you must still report the breach erring on the side of caution.

The guidance also expands on the factors that you can consider to decide if a breach is ‘otherwise significant’ to be reported.

Further information

We have updated the associated web content to reflect the changes in our guidance documents – see:

• Code obligations when making or preparing statements
• Code obligations when undertaking activities for or in dealings with government
• Breach reporting

We’re in the process of updating our factsheets on these obligations and we expect to publish the updated factsheets soon on our website.