Tax Return: Individual Engagements – Terms and Conditions
These Terms and Conditions (T&Cs) are to be read in conjunction with our engagement letter with you. They apply to all services that we perform for you that are described in our engagement letter (“the Services”). Together, our engagement letter and these T&Cs are called “this Agreement”. If the two documents are inconsistent, the terms in the engagement letter overrule these T&Cs. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between us with respect to our work under this agreement and supersedes all prior agreements, proposals, oral and written representations and negotiations.
1. Events Required to be Disclosed
In accordance with the Tax Agent Services (Code of Professional Conduct) Determination 2024 (the Determination), I advise you that there are no events which have occurred within the last 5 years which require disclosure.
2. TPB Register and Complaints Process
The TPB maintains a register of tax agents and BAS agents (tax practitioners) and this register can be accessed and searched at https://www.tpb.gov.au/public-register. The TPB’s register confirms that I am a registered tax practitioner with no conditions imposed on my registration
All complaints should be raised with us at first instance with the view that your concerns can be resolved amicably between us. In the event that your concerns cannot be satisfactorily resolved, you may wish to raise a complaint with the IPA and/or the TPB:
- IPA’s complaints process can be accessed at https://www.publicaccountants.org.au/about/complaint-investigation/complaints-about-an-ipa- member.
- The TPB’s complaints process can be accessed at https://www.tpb.gov.au/complaints. Further information is contained in an Information for Clients document on the TPB’s website: https://www.tpb.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-10/Information%20for%20clients%20factsheet.pdf.
3. Objective and Scope of the Engagement
We will provide tax services to you as described in our engagement letter. You have given us authority to use the Australian Taxation Office (ATO)’s online portal for tax agents for the purpose of managing and meeting your taxation obligations.
Please be aware that we will not conduct an audit or review as a service to be performed for you and accordingly, no assurance will be expressed. Unless specified in our engagement letter as a service to be performed for you, our engagement cannot be relied upon to disclose irregularities including fraud, other illegal acts and errors that may occur. However, we will inform you of such matters if they come to our attention.
We will perform the services agreed in accordance with professional and ethical standards including APES 220 Taxation Services. These standards require that, in undertaking this engagement, we comply with relevant ethical requirements of APES 110 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including Independence Standards) and the Tax Agents Services Act 2009.Independence and conflicts of interest We have procedures in place to periodically assess our independence assigned to our engagement. We will notify you in a timely manner should we become aware of any conflict of interest or independence issues.
If during the engagement you become aware of any conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest or there is a change of circumstances which may result in a conflict, you must advise us. Events that may give rise to a conflict of interest or potential conflicts of interest include:
- Events affecting you, such as deaths, matrimonial disputes as well as litigation (threatened or actual).
- Changes to the structure of your business or your business relationships.
- Offering an employment opportunity to a current or former employee of our practice.
Confidentiality
We will conduct this engagement in accordance with professional and ethical standards issued by the APESB. The information acquired from you for our engagement is subject to strict confidentiality requirements and will not be disclosed by us to other parties except as required by law or professional and ethical standards, unless we have your written consent.
NOCLAR obligations
Pursuant to the Responding to Non-Compliance with Laws and Regulations (NOCLAR) requirements of APES 110, we are required to report any material, actual or potential non-compliance with laws and regulations or acts of omission or commission, intentional or unintentional by a client or by those charged with governance, by management or by other individuals working for or under the direction of a client which are contrary to the prevailing laws or regulations.
4. Our Obligation to Comply with the Law
We have a professional duty to act in your best interests. However, our duty to act in your best interests is subject to an overriding obligation to comply with the law, even if that may require us to act in a manner that may be contrary to your directions. For example we cannot lodge an income tax return that we believe to be false in a material respect. Further, where a statement lodged with the ATO contains a false or misleading statement, the Determination requires us to, in certain circumstances, take particular actions which may include one or more of:
- advising you that the statement should be corrected;
- withdrawing from our engagement and professional relationship with you;
- notifying the ATO that we are not reasonably satisfied that our advice to correct the statement was acted upon; or
- taking further action in the public interest.
5. Use of Consumer Data Right Data
We acknowledge that you may consent for an Accredited Data Recipient under the Consumer Data Right (CDR) to disclose your CDR data to us. We confirm that for this purpose you may nominate Red Hills Accounting & Businesss Solutions as your Trusted Adviser and that as your trusted adviser, we will only access the data necessary to provide the services in this engagement letter.
6. Your Rights and Obligations Under the Taxation Laws
Taxpayers have certain rights under taxation laws, including the right to seek a private ruling from the ATO or to appeal or object against a decision made by the Commissioner. Taxpayers also have certain obligations under Australian taxation laws, such as the obligation to keep proper records and the obligation to lodge returns by the due date. We must keep you informed of any specific rights and obligations that may arise under Australian taxation laws. Further, we must keep you informed of my rights, responsibilities and obligations as a tax practitioner.
Further information is contained in an Information for Clients document on the TPB’s website:
https://www.tpb.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-10/Information%20for%20clients%20factsheet.pdf.
7. Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) Obligations
We are required to comply with the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF Act) and related legislation (AML/CTF Legislation), in connection with any “designated services” (as defined in the AML/CTF Act) that you request from us, or that we provide to you. To comply with our AML/CTF obligations, we may be required to, among other things:
(a) conduct customer due diligence (CDD), including to verify your identity, and if relevant, the identity of other parties such as beneficial owners or those who may be acting on your behalf. We are also required to collect certain information before we can provide the designated service being requested.
These obligations may apply even if you are an existing client.
(b) monitor our clients for suspicious behaviour and transactions;
(c) provide certain information or reports (including suspicious matter reports) to AUSTRAC; and (d) keep certain records for prescribed time periods.
If you do not or if you are unable to provide the information we require in order to comply with our AML/CTF obligations, or if we determine that the designated service requested or provided falls outside our risk appetite, we may suspend or terminate this engagement.
Importantly, it is an offence under the AML/CTF Act to seek a designated service under a false name or anonymity, or to provide false or misleading information or documents as part of receiving a designated service.
8. Your Responsibilities
It is important to remember you are personally responsible for the information contained in any statutory form, return or schedule. Before documentation is lodged on your behalf, drafts will be forwarded for your review and approval. Documentation will be lodged with the relevant departments/authorities by the due date(s), provided all necessary information and documentation is received by the agreed date(s). If you are late in providing information, best efforts will be made to meet lodgment due dates. However, no responsibility will be accepted for any late lodgment penalties incurred.
Your disclosure and record-keeping obligations
You are required by law to keep full and accurate records relating to your tax affairs. It is your obligation to provide us with all information that is reasonably expected as necessary to allow us to perform work contemplated under this engagement within a timely manner or as requested. This includes providing accurate and complete responses to questions asked. Inaccurate, incomplete or late information could have a material effect on services provided and/or conclusions reached.
We need not verify the underlying accuracy or completeness of information from you if it appears reasonable. However, if we believe information is missing, incorrect or misleading, we will need to seek further assurance from you.
The Taxation Administration Act 1953 contains specific provisions that may provide you with “safe harbour” protection from administrative penalties for incorrect or late lodgment of returns. These safe harbour provisions will only be available to you if, amongst other things, you provide “all relevant taxation information” to us in a timely manner. Accordingly, it is to your advantage that all relevant information is disclosed to us, as any failure by you to provide this information may affect your ability to rely on the “safe harbour” provisions and will be taken into account in determining your liability to an administrative penalty. It is your responsibility to show that you have brought all matters to our attention if you want to take advantage of this legislative safe harbour.
9. Previous Tax Returns
It is noted that we are not engaged to review the accuracy of previous tax returns lodged by you or another tax practitioner. Where relevant, you have warranted that reliance can be placed on financial statements and other financial records presented by you for this purpose.
10. Engagement Output
There is no assumption of responsibility for any reliance on our engagement by any person or entity other than you and those parties indicated in the engagement. The engagement shall not be inferred or used for any purpose other than for which it was specifically prepared. Accordingly, our engagement output may include a disclaimer to this effect.
11. Engagement Period
The engagement period commences on the date you acknowledge and confirm acceptance of our terms of engagement and will continue until completion of the scope of tax services for the 2026 & future financial years OR revoked by us.
12. Professional Fees and Terms of Payment
Professional fees and terms of payment are set out in our engagement letter.
13. Ownership of Documents
The final documents which we are specifically engaged to prepare, together with any other original documents given to us, shall remain your property. Documents brought into existence by us including specific documents and working papers, remain our property at all times. However, we will provide you with copies of any documents you require from time to time.
14. Lien over Documents
In the event of the termination of our services, you are advised that a lien may be invoked over certain documents held until outstanding fee have been paid or other satisfactory arrangements made. A lien is a right to hold certain documents or property until the debt incurred in respect of that property/document has been satisfied. Should a lien be invoked, you will be provided with a list of all documents subject to a claim of lien. If permitted by law, we may exercise a lien over all materials or records in our possession to all engagements for you until all outstanding fees and disbursements are paid in full.
15. Quality Review
As a member of the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA), We are subject to the IPA’s Quality Review Program (QRP) mandated by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). QRP reviews assess member compliance with the professional and ethical standards and by accepting our engagement you acknowledge that, if requested by the IPA, files relating to this engagement may be made available for QRP review. Unless otherwise advised, you are consenting to your files being part of a QRP review.
16. Professional Standards Scheme
As a member of the IPA, we are part of the IPA Professional Standards Scheme and our liability is limited by a Scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation. For more information on the IPA Professional Standards Scheme or Professional Standards Schemes generally, please refer to: www.psc.gov.au.
17. Privacy
We understand the importance of protecting the privacy of your personal information. In handling personal information, we comply with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act), as amended from time to time, and with the 13 Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act and other applicable privacyrelated legislation.
We collect, use, disclose and store your personal information in accordance with our privacy policy, a copy of which can be found on our website or otherwise made available to you upon request.
We may collect your personal information directly from you or your authorised representatives, from third parties where you have provided your consent, or where the collection of your personal information is permitted by law.
The types of personal information we collect includes general CDD or identification information such as names, occupation, and date of birth, contact details such as address, email address, and mobile phone number, government-issued identification numbers such as tax file numbers, financial information, and information regarding your superannuation and/or insurance arrangements.
Generally, we collect, use and disclose your personal information for the purposes of providing you with Income Tax Return services, as well as to comply with our legal, regulatory or professional obligations (including, if relevant, the AML/CTF Legislation)..
If you do not provide your personal information to us, this may affect our ability to assist you.
We may also use your personal information for the purpose of providing marketing information to you. Please let us know if you do not want this information to be sent to you.
To provide our Taxation services, we may disclose your information to third parties engaged to perform CDD including identification checks, administrative or other business management services.
We may also disclose your personal information to third parties engaged to undertake specific processes, functions or activities and/or provide services for us
Subject to our legal, regulatory and professional obligations, any disclosure is always on a confidential basis. We may also disclose your personal information if required or authorised by law, including as relevant the AML/CTF Legislation.
We may disclose personal information to overseas recipients in order to provide necessary Taxation services and for administrative or other business management purposes. Before disclosing any personal information to an overseas recipient, we take steps reasonable in the circumstances to ensure the overseas recipient complies with the Australian Privacy Principles or is bound by a substantially similar privacy scheme unless you consent to the overseas disclosure or it is otherwise required or permitted by law.
If you would like to access, or seek correction of, the personal information we collect and hold about you, or otherwise enquire or complain about our approach to privacy, please contact our privacy compliance officer on 03 57753295 or at [email protected]. Our privacy policy contains further information about these processes.
18. Third-Party Involvement
At times we may outsource some of our work which involves us entering into an agreement with a third party to provide specific processes, functions, services or activities for us. If we decide to do this as part of performing the Services for you, we will contact you first to seek your approval to engage other parties.
In providing our services to you, we utilize cloud computing systems provided by The Access Group, in particular Access Accounting Practice Solutions, the Global Headquarters are based in Loughborough UK. All confidential information is secure and maintained by The Access Group.. All database administration is included and carried out by dedicated technicians, ensuring our database is monitored, protected, optimised and backed up. Further information is available on the Access Group website https://www.theaccessgroup.com/en-au/cloud-hosting/
This engagement is a contract between you and Red Hills Accounting Pty Ltd Trading as Red Hills Accounting And Business Solutions and you agree that none of the third parties we use will have any liability to you and you will not bring any claim or proceedings of any nature in connection with this engagement against any third party that we may use to provide the services. This exclusion will not apply to any liability, claim or proceeding founded on an allegation of fraud or other liability that cannot be excluded under law.
Right to Vary Standard Terms and Conditions
These terms and conditions can be varied or amended in writing from time to time without notice. A current copy of these terms and conditions is available from our office, please [email protected].
We thank you for the opportunity to provide professional accounting and taxation services to prepare and lodge your tax return. We look forward to developing a close and mutually satisfying relationship with you for many years to come.
Yours faithfully
Gail C. Desmond
B.Bus(Acc) MNIA MIPA AFA Tax Agent
Red Hills Accounting And Business Solutions
Liability Limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation