Articles

Issued: 19 October 2023

Last modified: 19 October 2023

At the heart of your services to clients is the trust they have in your integrity, ethics and professionalism. So, how do we improve trust and confidence in the system? 

This has been challenged recently, especially with ongoing scrutiny of integrity standards, in Parliament and in the community. As a response to this we have seen tax practitioners and firms responding in a variety of ways. This has included improvements to supervision and quality assurance processes. Others are altering their culture and leadership and are enhancing risk management to improve client services. Many are reviewing training to build capability and reinforce integrity and ethics among staff.  

We commend these improvements and are pleased to see professional associations supporting a co-regulatory framework, with guidance, complaint resolution and effective disciplinary processes to support professional conduct.  

Tax practitioners who assess and improve their services build confidence in the system. Where you identify compliance issues, we encourage early engagement with us. Your transparency and cooperation can assist in mitigating matters impacting on your ongoing registration.  

The integrity challenge extends to us at the Tax Practitioners Board as well, we can improve our services and support for tax practitioners and the public. We are committed to consumers by focussing on high-risk tax practitioners.

In addition, we welcome Government reforms which will enhance our regulatory framework. We will work collaboratively with you and our co-regulators to serve the best interests of the Australian community.