TASA Disclosure Statement

Under section 45 of the Tax Agent Services (Code of Professional Conduct) Determination 2024 (Code Determination), we must advise all current and prospective clients of the following information:

  1. Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) public register – The TPB maintains a public register of tax and BAS agents and you can freely access and search that register. You will be able to see both Holly Shoebridge and Oceans Consulting Services Pty Ltd registration details on the register.
  2. TPB’s complaint process – Clients can make a complaint about a tax agent service (including a BAS service) they have received from any practicing tax practitioner. Complaints can be made in writing to us via our website contact form. Further information about our complaints process is also available on request.
  3. Rights, responsibilities and obligations – we must provide general information about our rights, responsibilities and obligations as a registered tax practitioner under the taxation laws, and obligations our clients have to us.
    1. About the rights, responsibilities and obligations of a registered tax practitioner includes, but is not limited to, information about obligations under the Code, such as acting lawfully in the client’s best interests, acting honestly and with integrity, having arrangements in place to manage any conflicts of interest, taking reasonable care to ensure the taxation laws are complied with, and providing services in a competent and timely manner.
    2. General information about a client’s obligations to their registered tax practitioner may include, but is not limited to:
      1. making all relevant information available to their registered tax practitioner in a complete and timely manner
      2. being truthful with the information provided to their registered tax practitioner
      3. advising of any changes in any matter that is relevant to the tax agent services that are to be provided by their registered tax practitioner
      4. keeping the required records and providing information to their registered tax practitioner on a timely basis
      5. being co-operative with their registered tax practitioner’s requests and meeting their due dates.
    3. For clients of Oceans Consulting Services Pty Ltd, we will enter into a contractual arrangement with you (via a letter of engagement) which sets out the rights, responsibilities and obligations of us as the registered tax practitioner and yourself as the client.
  4. Prescribed events – If any of the following prescribed events have occurred within the last 5 years (even if the tax practitioner had notified the TPB of the event and the TPB determined The tax practitioner continues to be fit and proper), we are required to provide a reasonable level of detail to our clients of the events, if/as they occur:
    1. If our tax agent registration was suspended or terminated by us
    2. If we were an undischarged bankrupt or went into external administration
    3. If we were convicted of a serious taxation offence
    4. If we were convicted of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty
    5. If we were serving, or were sentenced to, a term of imprisonment in Australia for 6 months or more
    6. If we were penalised, subject to an injunction, or been subject to an order for breaching a voluntary undertaking for:
      1. being a promoter of a tax exploitation scheme
      2. implementing a scheme that has been promoted on the basis of conformity with a public ruling, private ruling or oral ruling in a way that is materially different from that described in the ruling
      3. promoting on the basis of conformity with a public ruling, private ruling or oral ruling a scheme that is materially different from that described in the ruling
    7. If the Federal Court has ordered me/us to pay a pecuniary penalty for contravening a civil penalty provision under the Tax Agent Services Act 2009.
  5. The above does not apply to events which occurred before 1 July 2022.
  6. Prescribed matters – we must advise if our registration is subject to conditions that limit the scope of tax agent or BAS services that we can provide.

These obligations highlight the importance of our role as a registered tax practitioner to preserve public trust and confidence in the tax system. They further help ensure that our clients are provided with relevant information, so they can make fully informed decisions as to whether to engage (or continue to engage) us to use our services and to represent them in their tax affairs.

For further information on any of the details listed above, please refer to TPB(I) 49/2024 Keeping your clients informed.