Treasury has released for comment an exposure draft of Tax Agent Services Amendment (Tax (Financial) Advisers) Regulation 2014.

From 1 July 2017, financial planners seeking to register as tax (financial) advisers will be required to meet substantive ongoing education and experience requirements. Prior to this, financial planners may seek to register with the Tax Practitioners Board, without having to meet these ongoing registration requirements.

It will be required that an individual must be, or has been in the past 90 days, a financial services licensee or a representative of a financial services licensee as defined in section 910A(a) Corporations Act. This ensures that individuals who are seeking to register under these combinations are currently, or have very recently been, engaged as financial planners.

An individual seeking registration on the basis that they have a relevant tertiary qualification must have the equivalent of twelve months full time relevant experience in the preceding five years.

Additionally it will be requirement that the individual has completed a Board approved course in both commercial law and Australian taxation law.

An alternative avenue to registration is on the basis of work experience that a person has completed. This will allow an applicant to register without formal qualifications, provided that they have completed both a Board approved course in Australian taxation law, and commercial law. To meet this requirement, an applicant must have three years of full-time relevant experience in the preceding five years.

The final avenue for registration is on the basis of membership in a recognised professional association.