Phil Anderson

The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) welcomes the release of the Government’s Exposure Draft on registration requirements under the Tax Agent Services Act (TASA).

AFA COO, Phil Anderson said with the commencement of TASA next Tuesday, further guidance is timely, although more is still required. “We will be making a submission in response to this draft regulation, however, we are pleased to see the option available to members of a professional association.”

Mr Anderson said the AFA will be seeking accreditation as a recognised professional association for tax (financial) advisers to ensure that qualifying members can access this option.

“The AFA has been actively involved in the consultation on TASA and we will continue to represent our members in this process,” he said.

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Mark Rantall

Wednesday night’s release of draft Tax Agent Services Act (TASA) regulations show the TASA regulation is heading in the right direction, said Financial Planning Association CEO, Mark Rantall.

Mr Rantall said the FPA was pleased to see appropriate considerations offered in the latest draft that acknowledge the existing professional standards, experience and higher education levels of members of the FPA.

The FPA is a professional body recognised by the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) having been formally approved as a Recognised Tax Agent Association in March 2012.

“Treasury has opened a consultation period until July 9, 2014 to gain feedback on the draft TASA regulations, which detail the experience and education requirements of financial planners required to register with the TPB.

The FPA will provide a submission to Treasury to ensure all the requirements in the draft regulations are appropriate and relevant for financial planners.

“However we broadly welcome these TASA requirements as heading in the right direction, and are specifically encouraged that Treasury has proposed waiving its tax and commercial law course requirements for financial planners who have six years full time equivalent relevant experience, and are members of a TPB recognised professional body,” Mr Rantall said.

“Essentially, the draft we have seen today means FPA members who remain a member and adhere to the FPA’s Code and Professional obligations, already fulfill many of the requirements for TPB registration.”

This alone underscores not only the value of being a member of the FPA, but the long-term benefits of choosing higher educational and professional standards in financial planning.

The FPA has compiled some simple steps about registering with the Tax Practitioners Board to ensure its members gain full benefit from transitional arrangement exemptions. Click here to view.

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More than 1,000 delegates heading to the FPA Professionals Congress.

Registrations for the Financial Planning Association’s (FPA) Inaugural Professionals Congress closed last Friday with over 1,000 delegates set to attend the new look event.

Following a period of significant change within the financial planning profession, next week’s Congress is designed to deliver education and self-development opportunities to both FPA members and non-members, providing them with more tools with which to change client’s lives for the better.

Built by practitioners for practitioners, the Congress program offers sessions covering Technical, Best Practice, Personal Development and Leadership, helping planners to build their business, further their self-development and ultimately, be in a better position to service their clients.

Mark Rantall, CEO of the FPA said: “The past year has been a turbulent one for the profession – from the implementation of FoFA, the Tax Agent Services Act and the change of government. Next week’s Congress is an opportunity to bring the focus back to our community of financial planners and aligned professionals, marking our collective achievements and preparing for the challenges that lay ahead”.

“We’ve tailored the Workshop streams to meet what planners everywhere say are their most pressing practical needs. There is the deep educational focus that one would expect from such an event, but the sessions also deliver a focus on personal and business developments skills – framed against delivering a valuable service proposition to the client”.

“The most subscribed sessions at Congress indicate what we have been hearing this past year from the planner community. For example, time management is a persistent issue that planners face in their day-to-day and unsurprisingly, this session has proven to be a sell-out. We are pleased that workshop registrations strongly indicate that delegate needs are being met.”

Other highly popular sessions include:

The Professionals Congress will also hear from many FPA members and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER^® Practitioners who will conduct panel sessions on tax planning; FoFA, insurance and client acquisition – providing delegates with a great opportunity to learn from their colleagues. For example, one of the booked-out sessions will feature members sharing tips with one another on ‘Minimizing tax, maximizing opportunity’ (Technical Stream).

Mr Rantall continued, “It’s exciting to see that we will have twice as many delegates than at our last conference in 2011 and I am hugely proud of the work that has gone into this event. This is a Congress for planners; it is about supporting the profession through this period of change and building for the future so that more Australians have access to the highest quality advice”.

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Brad Fox – CEO – AFA

The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) is deeply concerned over the proposed extension of the Tax Agent Services Act (TASA) to cover financial advisers.  This legislation, as part of the Tax Laws Amendment (2013 Measures No.2) Bill 2013 (the Bill) package, has been brought forward without due process or adequate consultation.

AFA CEO Mr Brad Fox said, “We are deeply concerned to discover this afternoon that this legislation will not be subject to parliamentary review and could be voted on as soon as Tuesday 4 June.”

Mr Fox said that without adequate review there is a serious risk that the legislation will result in significant unintended consequences.

“While the AFA accepts that financial advisers will come under the TASA regime, we are deeply concerned about the way it is being done and the timeframe in which it is being implemented,” he said.

“We also continue to have significant concerns about the way the legislation has been drafted, specifically the definition of ‘tax (financial) advice services’.”

Mr Fox said the Government has had three years since the TASA regime was introduced to address its application to financial advisers. 

“We have lobbied continually on this issue for several months,” Mr Fox said.

“We do not understand why the Government has left it until the last minute, only one month before the scheduled commencement date to address the issue, particularly given the fact that  financial advisers are already highly focussed on the significant challenges involved in the implementation of the Future of Financial Advice reforms.

“We are also particularly concerned with the lack of detail and regulation or guidance and will be seeking for the TASA legislation as it pertains to financial advisers to be removed from the Bill so that it may be subject to appropriate industry consultation and deferred for six to 12 months.”

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