Issued: 1 January 2022
Last modified: 11 August 2022
The Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) no longer regulates tax (financial) advisers from 1 January 2022 with the establishment of the Single Disciplinary Body for financial advisers.
The provision of tax (financial) advice services will, however, still be regulated either by the TPB or the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
You have to be either a tax agent (individual, company or partnership) with the TPB or a qualified tax relevant provider (QTRP) with ASIC to legally provide tax (financial) advice services from 1 January 2022.
Transitional arrangement
Individual non-financial advisers, companies and partnerships registered as a tax (financial) adviser with the TPB as at 31 December 2021 qualify for the transitional arrangement. Under this arrangement, these advisers and entities can legally continue to provide tax (financial) advice services until 31 December 2022 without being subject to a civil penalty for not being registered or qualified.
Where individuals are providing tax (financial) advice on behalf of a company or partnership, those existing arrangements can continue during the transitional period.
However, from 1 January 2023:
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an individual non-financial adviser must be registered as a tax agent to provide tax (financial) advice services legally
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a company or partnership must be either registered as a tax agent or ensure every individual providing tax (financial) advice services on its behalf is either registered as a tax agent or QTRP.
For registered tax (financial) advisers
Individuals
If you were registered as a tax (financial) adviser as at 31 December 2021 and you are also a financial adviser (including an Australian financial services (AFS) licensee) – you will be automatically deemed registered with ASIC and taken to be a QTRP. You can continue to legally provide tax (financial) advice services.
You do not need to cancel or surrender your individual tax (financial) adviser registration. You will no longer be regulated by the TPB, but you will need to meet your obligations as a QTRP under ASIC.
You do not have to separately register as a tax agent unless you want to provide tax agent services other than just tax (financial) advice services.
If you are not a financial adviser, refer to the transitional arrangement described above as the arrangement will apply to you.
Companies and partnerships
If your company or partnership (including an AFS licensee or corporate authorised representative) entity was registered as a tax (financial) adviser as at 31 December 2021, refer to the transitional arrangement described above as the arrangement will apply to your entity.
Where individuals are providing tax (financial) advice on behalf of a company or partnership, those existing arrangements can continue during the transitional period.
From 1 January 2023, your entity must be registered as a tax agent or ensure every individual providing tax (financial) advice services on its behalf is registered either as a tax agent or QTRP.
Holding both an individual and company/partnership tax (financial) adviser registration
We recommend you keep both your registrations active. If you remain registered as at 31 December 2021, you don’t have to do anything now. You can legally continue providing tax (financial) advice services as you will qualify to be a QTRP or for the transitional arrangement until 31 December 2022.
Refer to previous paragraphs for information on what individuals and companies/partnerships entities should do.
For further information for individuals and entities to register with us as tax agents to provide only tax (financial) advice services, refer to:
For those not registered as tax (financial) advisers
Whether you should register with ASIC or TPB to provide tax (financial) advice services depend on whether you:
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are a financial adviser
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want to provide tax (financial) advice services as an individual, company or partnership entity
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want to provide tax (financial) advice services on behalf of a registered individual, company or partnership entity.
These options are described below.
Financial advisers (including Australian financial services (AFS) licensees and individual authorised representatives)
You have 2 options:
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Apply to register as a QTRP with ASIC – visit ASIC website for further information.
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Apply to register as a tax agent to provide only tax (financial) advice services (if you do not want to provide any other tax agent services). For further information on this registration process (including new registration pathways), refer to Registering as an individual tax agent to provide tax (financial) advice services.
If you want to provide a wide range of tax agent services (other than just tax (financial) advice services), refer to Registering as an individual tax agent.
You cannot provide tax (financial) advice services legally until either your application with the TPB or with ASIC is approved. An exception applies if you provide services under supervisory arrangements on behalf of an entity that qualifies for the transitional arrangement until 31 December 2022.
Individual non-financial advisers
You must apply to register as a tax agent with the TPB. Depending on your qualifications and experience, we may impose a condition on your registration to provide only tax (financial) advice services.
For further information on the registration process (including new registration pathways), refer to Registering as an individual tax agent to provide tax (financial) advice services.
Companies and partnerships (including AFS licensees and corporate authorised representatives)
Your company or partnership entity must either:
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register as a tax agent, or
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ensure all individuals providing tax (financial) advice services on its behalf are registered as tax agents or QTRPs.
If you apply to register as a tax agent, we may impose a condition on your entity’s registration to provide only tax (financial) advice services.
For further information refer to Registering as a company or partnership tax agent.
Providing services on behalf of a registered individual or entity
You can provide tax (financial) advice services on behalf of an individual or entity registered (with ASIC and/or TPB) to provide tax (financial) advice services.
For registered tax agents
If you are already a registered tax agent (individual or company/partnership), you can legally provide tax (financial) advice services as these services form part of tax agent services.
If you want to provide other financial services, contact ASIC for further information.