What the Eight Obligations Cover

The Tax Agent Services (Code of Professional Conduct) Determination 2024 was registered on 2 July 2024 and introduced eight additional obligations for all registered tax agents and BAS agents under the TASA. For firms with 100 or fewer employees as at 31 July 2024, the obligations commenced on 1 July 2025. For larger firms they commenced on 1 January 2025. As of now, they apply universally.

The eight obligations cover: upholding and promoting the ethical standards of the tax profession, not making false or misleading statements to the TPB or government, managing conflicts of interest in activities undertaken for government, maintaining confidentiality in dealings with government, keeping proper client records for at least 5 years after the service has been provided, ensuring tax agent services provided on the firm's behalf are provided competently, establishing and maintaining a quality management system, and keeping current and prospective clients informed of relevant matters under section 45.

Most of these build on existing Code obligations and APES standards that firms were already applying in some form. CPA Australia has noted that many practitioners will find they are already largely compliant because the new obligations overlap significantly with what the existing Code and professional ethical standards already required. The obligations that are generating the most practical questions are section 30 on record-keeping, section 15 on false or misleading statements, and section 45 on keeping clients informed.

The Record-Keeping Obligation and the 5-Year Rule

Section 30 of the Determination requires registered tax practitioners to keep records that correctly record every tax agent service provided to each client, including former clients. The records must be in English or readily convertible to English, retained for at least 5 years from the date the service is complete, and must show the nature, scope and outcome of the service. They must also reference the information reasonably considered in providing the service and document the assumptions and reasoning behind any advice given, including the basis and method of any calculations.

The practical implication is that this obligation does not just mean retaining existing documents. It requires making records where none currently exist. A phone call where advice is given is a tax agent service. If no written record is created of what was discussed, what position was taken, and what the client was told, the firm is not compliant with section 30. The TPB guidance is clear that the obligation extends to creating records, not just keeping them.

For firms that rely heavily on phone and email communication with clients and have no consistent system for documenting those conversations, section 30 requires a structural change to how advice is recorded and stored.

The Client Advice Trap Most Firms Are Missing

The most discussed practical problem from the new obligations is the intersection between section 15, which deals with false or misleading statements, and the everyday reality of informal client advice. The scenario is familiar in every firm. A client calls mid-task and asks whether they should put a new vehicle in the family trust. The accountant gives a view based on what they know about the client's circumstances. The client acts on it before anything is confirmed in writing. Under the new regime, if that advice relates to a tax liability or entitlement the client is reasonably expected to rely on, it is a tax agent service. The record-keeping obligation attaches to it. If a material error is later discovered and the client does not agree to correct it, the firm may have obligations under section 15 that are uncomfortable to navigate.

The practical protection is the same one that protects against most of these problems: an engagement letter that covers the scope of services before advice is given, and a follow-up written record after any significant phone conversation where a position was communicated. Firms that build a brief written confirmation habit into client calls, not necessarily a formal letter for every question but a short email summarising the advice given and any caveats attached to it, create the record section 30 requires and reduce the exposure that section 15 creates.

The Takeaway

The TASA Code Determination 2024 is now in full effect for every Australian accounting firm. Most of what it requires is not new in principle but it is new in specificity. The 5-year record-keeping obligation requires firms to create records of advice, not just file documents that already exist. The keeping clients informed obligation under section 45 requires that engagement letters and client-facing communications address the TPB register, complaints process, and relevant practitioner information. And the false or misleading statements obligation under section 15 means informal advice that a client acts on carries the same documentation weight as formal written advice. Firms that update their engagement letters, build a call-documentation habit, and establish a quality management system covering these areas are compliant. Firms that leave it for later are carrying exposure that compounds with every undocumented client conversation.