Tax (financial) advice services

From 1 January 2022, additional education and training requirements apply to relevant providers who provide, or intend to provide, tax (financial) advice services to retail clients.

Specifically, under Division 3 of Part 3 of the Corporations (Relevant Providers—Education and Training Standards) Determination 2021 (Relevant Providers Determination), relevant providers who provide, or intend to provide, tax (financial) advice services must complete specified courses in commercial law and taxation law before providing tax (financial) advice services, unless one or more of the following transitional provisions apply:

  • From 1 January 2022, relevant providers who were registered as individual tax (financial) advisers with the Tax Practitioners Board immediately before 1 January 2022 are not required to complete commercial law and taxation law courses. These relevant providers are considered to have already met these requirements.
  • From the date the person's registration with the Tax Practitioners Board as an individual tax (financial) adviser comes into force, relevant providers who applied to be registered as an individual tax (financial) adviser on or before 31 December 2021 (and whose application has subsequently been approved by the Tax Practitioners Board) are not required to complete commercial law and taxation law courses. These relevant providers are also considered to have already met these requirements.
  • Between 1 January 2022 and 31 December 2025, existing providers who were relevant providers immediately before 1 January 2022 have until either their exam cut-off date (if they have not passed the exam), or 31 December 2025 (if they have passed the exam) to complete the required commercial law and taxation law courses.

Relevant providers who have previously completed commercial law and/or taxation law courses approved by the Tax Practitioners Board under paragraphs 301(b), 302(b) and 303(a) of Schedule 2 to the Tax Agent Services Regulations 2009 (as in force on 31 December 2021) are not required to complete the courses again and can provide tax (financial) advice services from 1 January 2022. For ease of reference, these courses are listed below.

Otherwise, the specific requirements that must be satisfied with respect to each of the specified courses are listed in sections 3-65 and 3-70 of Division 3 of Part 3 of the Relevant Providers Determination. Relevant providers and/or their Australian financial services licensees should review and assess relevant course outline(s) to determine whether they meet the requirements of the Relevant Providers Determination.

For more information, see Information Sheet 268 FAQs: Relevant providers who provide tax (financial) advice services (INFO 268).

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Last updated: 11/02/2025 11:39