The profession
We support a strong, ethical and trusted tax profession that underpins confidence in Australia’s tax system.
Most tax practitioners act with integrity and play a critical role in supporting individuals and businesses to meet their tax obligations. We will continue to strengthen our engagement with the profession and professional bodies to support high standards, provide clarity, and reinforce expectations of professional conduct.
We will engage early on regulatory issues that concern us and the profession, ensuring we provide timely and practical guidance and increasing transparency around our expectations and regulatory actions. We will take a more visible approach to regulation by improving how we communicate our expectations, priorities and regulatory actions. We will do this by delivering a more coordinated communications approach that supports consistent messaging, timely guidance and early signalling of emerging risks. We will better use our communications to foster the behaviour we want to see and provide clear warnings about behaviour we will not tolerate.
We will have a sharper focus on behaviours that undermine trust in the tax profession and ultimately the tax system. This includes misconduct and unregistered activity. We will continue to support practitioners to meet their obligations while taking decisive action where standards are not met.
By strengthening relationships with the profession, responding to community expectations and supporting government reforms, we will continue to lift professional standards and enhance trust and confidence in the tax system.
Transparency, digitalisation and emerging challenges
Emerging technologies and the growing accessibility of information are transforming how the community interacts with the tax system. While these advancements present new opportunities, they also bring challenges, such as the risk of misinformation and a potential decline in trust within the profession.
To build transparency and trust, we will take a clearer and more visible approach to regulation. This includes communicating our expectations, priorities and regulatory actions openly and consistently.
We will collaborate closely with the tax profession, the ATO, co-regulators and other stakeholders to ensure consistent messaging, uphold high standards of conduct and strengthen confidence in the integrity of the tax profession and tax system.
By improving our communication, engaging earlier and being transparent in our regulatory approach, we will empower the community and tax professionals to make informed decisions and navigate a changing environment.
Digitalisation – We are committed to leveraging the digitalisation of the Australian economy to enhance regulatory outcomes and support the profession. As digital service providers, software platforms and AI tools increasingly shape tax services, we will clarify the operation of the TASA in relation to these services and provide guidance on their responsible use by tax practitioners.
Reducing compliance burden – We recognise the pressures faced by the profession and are mindful not to add unnecessary red tape. Our approach will focus on minimising duplication with other agencies and reducing the overall compliance burden wherever possible.
Monitoring emerging issues – As the profession evolves and the population grows, we will continue to monitor trends and developments to identify any emerging issues or concerns, ensuring our regulatory approach remains responsive and effective.
Compliance priorities
We will deliver a targeted and proportionate compliance program focused on the areas of greatest risk to the community and the integrity of the tax system and profession, aligned to our published compliance priorities and enduring priorities. Our approach is informed by data, intelligence, complaints and ongoing engagement with stakeholders.
We will take a stronger and more visible approach to addressing conduct that undermines trust, including our current compliance priority areas such as tax practitioner misconduct or unethical behaviour, including illegal phoenix activity, tax avoidance schemes, shadow economy activity, overclaimed work-related expenses, exploitation of vulnerable Australians and failures to meet personal tax obligations. This work also supports our enduring priorities in relation to fraud, professional standards, integrity, leadership, culture and governance, and unlawful unregistered preparer activity.
We will balance support and enforcement by strengthening guidance, promoting voluntary compliance, and taking timely and appropriate regulatory action where standards are not met. This includes reinforcing expectations under the Code of Professional Conduct.
Our approach supports a level playing field. Specifically, we ensure there are fair and consistent compliance standards for all practitioners, meaning everyone is held to the same rules and expectations. By doing so, we safeguard vulnerable clients and help uphold trust in both the tax profession and the wider tax system.