Accountants warned on licensing penalties
The Tax Practitioners' Board (TPB) has succeeded in pursuing unlicensed practitioners in the Federal Court with at least one such action resulting in a $900,000 penalty.
That was the message delivered by TPB chairman, Ian Taylor, as a panel of regulators warned accountants attending the SMSF Association annual conference in Adelaide of the need to ensure they were appropriately licensed to give advice relating to SMSFs with Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) commissioner, Greg Tanzer, that licensing would be necessary with respect to both the establishment and winding-up of funds.
Taylor told the conference that the TPB was continuing to closely scrutinise licensing and that it had been successful in taking people to the Federal Court for practicing unlicensed with recent penalties of $80,000 and $900,000 having been applied.
"So it is something that is not being taken lightly," he said.
But Tanzer had some good news for financial advisers fearful of the complexities relating to their Future of a Financial Advice (FOFA) best interest obligations and the need to be registered with the TPB with respect to the provision of tax-related advice.
He said that ASIC would be issuing guidance on the issue shortly indicative of the view that it did regard the matter as unduly problematic.
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