TASA Bill given committee green light

A spokesperson for shadow minister for financial services and superannuation Mathias Cormann told ifa that at 12.15pm today, the members of the House of Representatives standing committee on economics met to vote on whether to have an inquiry into the The Tax Laws Amendment (2013 Measures No. 2) Bill 2013.

Coalition committee members proposed a motion that an inquiry be held into the Bill and its implications, but the motion was reportedly “voted down by the Labor members,” according to the Senator’s office.

"Rumour confirmed. Labor wants to ram contentious changes to Tax Agents Services Act & tax info release through Parliament WITHOUT inquiry," Senator Cormann tweeted at 2.04pm. 

Financial Planning Association general manager policy and conduct Dante De Gori told ifa yesterday, upon the news of the Bill being referred to the economics standing committee, that too much is still unknown about Bill's potential impact on the financial advice industry, and that the timeframe is "unreasonable". 

“Too much is still unclear, including the definitions; how it’s going to work with licensees, that is, the issue of whether every individual needs to be registered or how many per licensee; [The Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s] role in the process; how the collaboration between ASIC and the TPB is going to look; and where the education requirements are at," he said.

De Gori called for the sections of the Bill pertaining to financial advisers to be removed and revisited by the parliament after the September election.