Following the release of an exposure draft on 30 July 2013 and a subsequent consultation period, the TPB has released the final version of an information sheet detailing the way tax agents can minimise their conflicts of interest, as is required by the TPB Code of Professional Conduct.
Item five of the code of conduct requires that registered agents to "have in place adequate arrangements for the management of conflicts of interest that may arise in relation to activities that are undertaken in the capacity of a registered agent".
According to the TPB, registered agents must have mechanisms in place to avoid conflicts of interest, control conflicts of interest and disclose conflicts of interest.
"If a registered agent does not have in place adequate arrangements for the management of conflicts of interest that may arise in relation to activities that are undertaken in the capacity of a registered agent, the TPB may find that the registered agent has breached the Code and may impose sanctions for that breach," said the information sheet.
If a registered agent breaches the code, the TPB can issue a written caution; issue an order requiring the registered agent to do something specified in the order; suspend the registered agent’s registration, or terminate the registered agent’s registration.
Financial planning lobby groups won a 12-month delay for advisers' inclusion in the TASA regime in July last year. Planners are set to fall under TASA from 30 July 2014.
