The Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) has warned registered tax practitioners that inadequate procedures and policies in relation to their outsourcing or offshoring arrangements could breach its Code of Professional Conduct.
If a registered tax practitioner is found to have breached the body’s code, the TPB may impose one or more administrative sanctions, including a written caution, an order requiring the registered tax practitioner to do something specified in the order, the suspension of the practitioner’s TPB registration and the termination of the practitioner’s TPB registration.
Further to these consequences of any breach of the code, the registered tax practitioner may also contravene relevant legislation, such as the Privacy Act or Corporations Act 2001.
“Ultimately, determining whether a registered tax practitioner has complied with their obligations under the code will be a question of fact,” the TPB said.
“This means that each situation will need to be considered on a case-by-case basis having regard to the particular facts and circumstances.”
The TPB’s warning of consequences of having inadequate outsourcing arrangements is part of its finalised guidance, “TPB(PN) 2/2018 Outsourcing and offshoring of tax services – Code of Professional Conduct considerations”.
The practice note also covered factors to consider when entering into arrangements involving outsourcing and offshoring, and a listing of where to find further information.
TPB chair Ian Taylor said the finalised practice note takes into consideration the feedback received on an exposure draft released for stakeholder comment in August last year.
“The issue of offshoring and outsourcing tax services to third parties is of increasing significance to the tax profession and we valued the participation of many stakeholders in this process,” Taylor said today.
