The following special conditions of business apply to all discussions, negotiations and contracts between Hanrahans Accounting Services Pty Limited (‘Hanrahans’) and you (‘the Client’) in respect of all Tax Agent Services.

1. Definitions

Tax Agent Services shall have the same meaning as that given to this expression in section 90-5 of the Tax Agents Services Act 2009.
The Client where the Client is:

  • an individual (or individuals), that individual (or individuals);
  • an enterprise (or enterprises), that enterprise (or enterprises), its owners and its governing body jointly and severally;

2. Acceptance

a. These Special Conditions of Business for Tax Agent Services form part of the Contract under which the Tax Agent Services are provided by Hanrahans.

b. To avoid doubt, when you accept the General Conditions of Business, the Letter of Engagement and the Confirmation Letter proposal, you are taken to have also accepted these Special Conditions of Business for Tax Agent Services in respect of any Tax Agent Services provided by Hanrahans.

3. Your disclosure and record keeping obligations

a. You are required by law to keep full and accurate records relating to your tax affairs.

b. It is your obligation to provide us with all information that you reasonably expect will be necessary to allow us to perform work contemplated under the engagement within a timely manner or as requested. This includes providing accurate and complete responses to questions asked of you by us. Inaccurate, incomplete or late information could have a material effect on our services and/or our conclusions and may result in additional fees. We will not verify the underlying accuracy or completeness of information you provide to us.

c. You are also required to advise us on a timely basis if there are any changes to your circumstances that may be relevant to the performance of our services. Specifically, if any subsequent event results in the information you provided to us being inaccurate, incomplete or misleading, then you are obliged to advise us as soon as possible. We take no responsibility to the extent that our advice is inaccurate, incomplete or misleading because it is based on inaccurate, incomplete or misleading information being provided to us.

d. You agree that the performance of our services is dependent on the performance of your obligations relating to disclosure and record keeping.

e. The Taxation Administration Act 1953 contains specific provisions that may provide you with “safe harbours” from administrative penalties for incorrect or late lodgement of returns if, amongst other things, you give us “all relevant taxation information” in a timely manner (the safe harbour provisions apply from 1 March 2010). 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 the extent to which we have discharged our obligations to you.

f. You are also required to advise us if you become aware of any conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest. Generally, a conflict of interest is any event which may result in us becoming unable to remain objective in the performance of our services to you.

4. Your rights and obligations under the taxation laws

a. You have certain rights under the taxation laws, including the right to seek a private ruling from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) or to appeal or object against a decision made by the Commissioner. If required, we will provide further information to you concerning your rights under the Australian taxation laws during the conduct of the engagement.

b. You also have certain obligations under the Australian taxation laws, such as the obligation to keep proper records and the obligation to lodge returns by the due date.

5. Our obligation to comply with the law

a. We have a duty to act in your best interests. However, the 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 interests. For example, we cannot lodge an income tax return for you that we know to be false in a material respect.

b. We also have an obligation to ensure that we manage conflicts of interest as they arise. In this regard, we have arrangements in place to ensure that we manage potential or actual conflicts of interest. The effective operation of these arrangements depends, in part, on you complying with your obligation to disclose any potential conflicts of interest to us (see section 3 above).

c. Unless otherwise stated, our advice and/or services are based on the Australian tax law in force and the practice of the Australian Taxation Office (the ATO) applicable as at the time the services are provided. It is your responsibility to seek updated advice if you intend to rely on our advice at a later stage. We note that Australian taxation laws are often subject to frequent change and our advice will not be updated unless specifically requested by you at the time of the change in law or announced change in law.

Want to grow your business? Our Free Resources will Help