The Financial Planning Association (FPA) has raised a number of issues that advisers should be concerned about in relation to the Tax Agent Services Act (TASA), which it says have been overshadowed by the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reforms.
At a media briefing in Sydney yesterday, FPA chief executive Mark Rantall said the industry is not sufficiently aware of its compliance requirements under the Act, which was amended in a Treasury exposure draft earlier this month to include financial advisers.
"We don't think there are that many financial planners in the country who are aware of it," Mr Rantall said. "They've been so consumed by FOFA, but TASA has been bubbling away and is now reaching a critical point."
Describing the Act as "wide-ranging and far-reaching," Mr Rantall said advisers who are not compliant with the Act are at risk of breaching the requirements and that a number of issues need to be considered.
FPA general manager, policy and conduct, Dante De Gori listed a number of particular concerns from the perspective of advisers, including a lack of clarity about competency criteria, a narrow definition of 'adviser' as 'linked to products' i.e. excluding 'strategic advice', and the implications for professional indemnity insurance.
The FPA also voiced concern over the problem of dual regulation, arguing that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) should investigate advisers providing tax advice rather than the Tax Practitioners' Board.
As well as ASIC "playing a bigger role," Mr De Gori called on licensees to help their authorised representatives become aware of their obligations under the Act.
"The reality is [advisers] don't need to do anything yet, and they don't have to magically have a qualification in accounting by July 1," he said. "This is something they will expect their dealer groups to help them with, as they always do, so licensees need to ensure they are in the loop."
