The Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) today announced it is seeking member feedback on advocating for a return of the accountants’ exemption to provide advice related to SMSFs.
Members recently asked the professional accounting body to take the issue of the removal of the accountants’ exemption to government, resulting in the IPA undertaking member engagement over the next week to determine its position.
“The principle at play here is ensuring Australians have access to affordable financial advice,” IPA chief executive Andrew Conway said.
“The capacity of an accountant to provide advice on SMSFs has long been held as not being a systemic risk to the integrity of the financial services system.”
Conway revealed since the exemption was removed on 1 July 2016, some Australians have opted out of advice altogether, which may ultimately place their financial future at risk.
“Simply, trusted accountants have been hamstrung, unable to respond to clients’ questions, particularly around superannuation,” he noted.
“The public rely on their annual interaction with their accountant to finalise their tax affairs and seek guidance on issues, which unfortunately is now considered financial advice as part of this process.
“Without this guidance, many will receive no financial advice at all for important matters such as retirement planning.”
Before the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reforms became law, less than one in five had any interaction with a financial planner, he added.
“FOFA has failed to achieve its policy objective of making financial advice affordable and removing accountants from providing any assistance has made the situation worse,” he said.
“As trusted advisers, accountants can play an important role in helping clients manage their financial affairs and revisiting the accountants’ exemption is paramount to restoring access to basic financial advice.”
Furthermore, 70 per cent of the population and 95 per cent of all businesses use a trusted accountant and denying them access to any guidance is not in the public interest, he said.
