The board has released an exposure draft for consultation indicating it plans to raise CPE hours for advisers from the current 60 hours per three years to 120 hours per three years, or 45 hours for conditional advisers.
The changes are due to come into force on 1 July and aim to “align with the standards of other professions and match the requirements of professional associations,” according to TPB chair Ian Klug.
While FASEA standards currently mandate advisers complete an equal amount of continuing education at 40 hours per year, the exposure draft states that all hours of CPE completed by tax financial advisers must relate to their tax financial advice services.
“The TPB considers that CPE will be relevant where the registered tax (financial) adviser can demonstrate a sufficient nexus between the activity and the tax (financial) advice services provided by them,” the exposure draft says.
However, examples given in the draft indicate the board is likely to accept a broad nexus when it comes to these activities, with software training sessions, financial product accreditations and cyber security courses all accepted for the purpose of CPE hours if they have a tax component, or are used in the course of providing tax advice to clients.
The draft states that studies obtained in the course of satisfying FASEA’s education standard also “may be acceptable” to count towards CPE hours if a unit of study has a tax component, citing the example of a TAFE course that covers the provisions of the Tax Agent Services Act.
Mr Klug said the TPB welcomed “feedback from practitioners, their associations and any other interested parties that can assist the TPB in setting the right CPE standards”, with the exposure draft open for consultation until 11 March.
I bet they had a real laugh coming up with that garbage. Just trying to stay relevant as our 15th regulator. Remind me why we need TPB oversight but can’t even get access to the same client portals as accountants?
Most ARs already do far more than 40 hours CPD per year. To cover the FASEA and FPA requirements alone I’ll complete over 65 hours for 2021 and my TPB requirements are more than covered. This announcement is ‘something nothing’ and TPB knows it – attempt to justify their existence!
it so easy to add more / what value does TPB add / just more time away from providing advice to make REAL differences
So glad I left this industry.
Doctors must do 50 hours, accountants 20 hours and blood sucking lawyers must do 10 hours. NONE of these professions are forced to waste their time and do another ethics exam.
Would you think it is harder and more important to prepare a transition to retirement strategy for a 60 year old or perform open heart surgery on that same client. Which of these professionals do you think the client would prefer to be better trained?
And ETHICS. Lawyers not having to pass ethics exams is ok as none/or very few of them would ever pass (especially at slater and gordon and maurice blackburn) . But doctors……How many times have doctors recommended unnecessary operations because they know they can charge insurance companies for the work. This exact unethical behaviour by a doctor happened to my Grandpa and he died.
It’s not really a “hike”, this now just lines up with the usual 40 hours of CPD per annum (which is 120 hours over 3 years) required under FASEA
Yes it is a hike, many of the FASEA CPD activities will not include a tax component (especially the excessive ethics hours) so will not qualify as TASA points. To satisfy FASEA CPD, TPB CPD and ASIC CPD (yes large licensees are forcing advisers to still do those too) it will probably take more than 100 hours per year. While there is some cross-over, you also have to match up all of the various categories and inevitably end up going well over in some areas. It’s a complete mess. We will be completing 3 times as much CPD as a brain surgeon or Barrister. What a joke!
That’s not quite right, not all our hours will be TASA, so we will have to double-up to ensure that we meet the minimum of all the categories – so yes this is at least a 10+ hr “hike” as I don’t see them putting the TASA tag next to the ethics courses.
hey better still, why not get rid of the TPB registration completely. We are all AR’s through ASIC, so what is wrong with just having the one lot of CPD to track.
Getting rid of TPB regulation of financial advisers seems to be the one piece of regulatory simplification everyone agrees on. The government’s own TPB review recommended it 2 years ago. Even Hayne seemed to agree with it, and we all know how clueless he was.
Yet Jane Hume does nothing about it. All she does is talk inanely. Time to replace her with someone competent.
This CPD creep is just useless, adds absolutely nothing and takes up more of our time.
Well doubling tax CPD should be another initiative to help to bring down the cost of advice for consumers. The joy of having 6 or more regulators!
This is insane. Tax is only one element of financial advice, and they want us to complete 40 hours per year of CPD?!!! Let me guess, someone on the board sells tax training courses? I smell another FASEA-esque stitch-up