Quarter of advisers ignore TPB rego

Of the 2,748 registered “tax (financial) advisers” due to renew registration with the TPB in July, more than a quarter failed to do so, causing their registration to expire, the board has announced.

TPB chair Ian Taylor said the failure to renew registration could leave some advisers in a precarious situation.

“Failing to submit a renewal application by the expiry date means the registration expires. If this applies to you, it is important that you advise your clients that you are no longer registered with the TPB and can no longer provide tax (financial) advice services,” Mr Taylor said. 
 
“Under the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA) if you are providing a tax (financial) advice service for a fee or other reward, you must be registered with the TPB to be able to legally provide that service.”

Mr Taylor said there are still 14,400 advisers who need to renew in the near future and reminded them that if registration lapses they will need to wait for approval before providing relevant services.  

“Significant monetary penalties” may face unregistered advisers providing or even advertising tax (financial) advice services, the TPB said.

However, commenting on the finding, compliance consultant Brett Walker of Smart Compliance said the lack of renewals is an example of “common sense” prevailing.

“I can only conclude that some of these people have determined that they don’t meet the tests clearly set out in the explanatory memoranda to the legislation,” Mr Walker told ifa.

Mr Walker has long contended that the TPB and other stakeholders such as industry associations representing advisers have been over-estimating the number of advisers actually required to register with the authority.