Large business bulletin: September 2011

Promoter penalty laws - reduce your risk

If your business provides a tax or financial advisory service, you need to be aware of the promoter penalty laws and how they may apply to you.

Promoter penalty laws target the promotion of tax exploitation schemes. They also prohibit the implementation of product ruling arrangements that are materially different to how they were described in the product ruling.

To ensure your business complies with these laws, we suggest you have the appropriate internal governance controls in place.

To help tax intermediaries understand the laws, we have released the Good governance and promoter penalty laws guide.

The guide covers topics such as:

• good governance principles and good practice in relation to tax services
• how we differentiate and treat businesses at risk of breaking these laws
• the consequences of breaking these laws
• current schemes and behaviours that concern us
• how to reduce the risk of inadvertently marketing or encouraging tax avoidance schemes, or incorrectly implementing product ruling arrangements.

The guide helps tax intermediaries better manage promoter penalty risks by outlining our approach and providing guidance on internal control checklists and best practice processes. It is also part of our strategy to help tax intermediaries and taxpayers recognise and reject potential tax avoidance schemes, and report them to us.

For more information about good governance and promoter laws, refer to Good governance and promoter penalty laws.

Sections within In focus

• Finalising our reportable tax positions schedule
• International risks - what we are looking at
• Promoter penalty laws - reduce your risk