BAS Agent Advisory Group minutes, November 2011

1. Introductions, apologies, confirmation of minutes of 31 August 2011 meeting

Chair's opening comments

The meeting was opened by the chair, Deputy Commissioner, Cheryl-Lea Field. The chair introduced the new Assistant Commissioner for Tax Practitioners, Cameron Sorensen. Cameron's previous role involved implementing strategies to manage the cash economy and brings considerable experience to his new role.

The chair mentioned that she will introduce a 'key messages' section at the beginning of the meeting summary that members are encouraged to use to disseminate the major points from our meeting via their communication channels.

Apologies

Were accepted from:

Julia Berry
Rowena Hand
Geoff Besgrove
Maria Jowett-Horth
Kathie Collins
Robert Hutt
Kerrie Giles
Deepti Paton
Tony Greco
Raj Rana

Professional association guest participants

Maria Benadis - substitute for Geoff Besgrove for ATMA/CBK.

Conflicts of interest

Members were asked to declare any conflicts of interest for this meeting. John Birse advised that he is a Director of the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB).

Previous minutes

As no amendments were proposed to the draft minutes of the 31 August 2011 meeting they were endorsed by members. The final version of the minutes will be published on the ATO website.

Sections within Agenda items

• 1. Introductions, apologies, confirmation of minutes of 31 August 2011 meeting
• 2. Review of action items
• 3. Tax Practitioners Board update
• 4. Risk differentiation for registered agents
• 5. Lodgment program differentiation project
• 6. ATO consultation - employer obligations
• 7. Fact sheet on reasonable care
• 8. Tax practitioner research program
• 9. Christmas closedown
• 10. Update on PAYG/FBT release
• 11. Annual review of forums
• 12. ATPF feedback from 4 November 2011 meeting
• 13. Other business