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Bookkeepers and BAS agents have been urged to adhere to their continuing professional education requirements in light of the ongoing audits of the Tax Practitioners Board.
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Bookkeeper CPD hours in spotlight amid audit crackdown
05 December 2018
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9 minute read
In September, the TPB revealed that only 71 per cent of tax practitioners fully complied with their CPE requirements.
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Its initial audit covered 1,000 tax practitioners, with a quarter partially compliant, in that they have exceeded the 25 per cent threshold for relevant technical or professional reading, with the remaining 4 per cent non-compliant.
Speaking to The Bookkeeper, Association of Accounting Technicians chief executive, Rochelle Park said BAS agents should take heed of the TPB’s initial warning and get their act together ahead of a further crackdown.
“The message is that bookkeepers, BAS agents, and indeed all tax professionals need to be aware of their CPD obligations and that they adhere to those CPD obligations,” said Ms Park.
“They need to maintain adequate evidence of that so they'll need to maintain a log of their CPD hours and also maintain evidence of their attendance or participation in those CPD activities.
“What the TPB are doing is they are finding people who are not meeting their obligations and giving them a specified timeframe - three months perhaps - to go about bringing themselves up to speed and then provide that evidence and if they fail to do within the specified timeframe the TPB will take further disciplinary action which may include deregistration.”
According to Ms Park, the TPB will start working its way through members of professional associations who do not have audit processes in place after it has audited agents who are not members of any associations.
BAS agents are required to complete a minimum of 45 hours of CPE within a standard three-year registration period, with a minimum of five hours each year.
“Failure to comply with our CPE requirements may lead to a formal investigation that could result in an administrative sanction,” said the TPB earlier.
“Sanctions available range from written cautions and orders, all the way to suspensions and terminations.”
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