Please go through the Individual Client Engagement – Term and Condition as summarized below.
The Purpose:
The purpose of this Engagement Letter is to set out and confirm the terms of engagement between our firm and you. The Engagement Letter has been aligned with the standards of APES 110 Code of Ethics and APES 305 Terms of Engagement as published by the Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board.
Objectives:
The objective of the engagement is to perform the Income Tax Return 2022/23.
Please be aware that we will not conduct an audit or review unless specified above as a service to be performed for you and accordingly, no assurance will be expressed.
Unless specified above as a service to be performed for you, this engagement cannot be relied upon to disclose irregularities including fraud, other illegal acts, and errors that may occur, however, we will inform you of such matters if they come to our attention.
Scope:
This is a one-off Individual tax return service for 2023.
Output:
We anticipate it will take approximately 3 business days to complete our work for the services specified above.
Any reports including Financial Statements, Income Tax Returns, and so on, will be prepared for distribution to the specific organization, client, or entity for the purpose specified in the report. There is no assumption of responsibility for any reliance on our report by any person or entity other than you and those parties indicated in the report. The report shall not be inferred or used for any purpose other than for which it was specifically prepared. Accordingly, our report may include a disclaimer to this effect.
As a member of CPA Australia, we are part of the CPA Australia Professional Standards Scheme and our liability is limited by a Scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation. For more information on the CPA Australia Professional Standards Scheme or Professional Standards Schemes generally.
Relative responsibilities:
As a member of the CPA Australia, our firm is subject to the Professional Practice Quality Assurance (PPQA) reviews mandated by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). The PPQA reviews assess member compliance with the professional and ethical standards and by accepting our engagement you acknowledge that, if requested by the CPA Australia, our files relating to this engagement will be made available for the PPQA review. Should this occur, we will advise you.
You are required by law to keep full and accurate records relating to your tax affairs. It is your obligation to provide us with all information that would reasonably be expected to allow usto perform the services for you under this engagement as requested. This includes you providing accurate and complete responses to questions asked of you by us. Inaccurate, incomplete, or late information may have a material effect on our services or reports.
The Taxation Administration Act 1953 now contains specific provisions that may provide you with “safe harbour” from administrative penalties for incorrect or late lodgement of returns. These safe harbour provisions will only be available to you if, amongst other things, you provide “all relevant taxation information” to us in a timely manner. 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 tax practitioners have discharged their obligations to clients. It is your responsibility to show that you have brought all matters to our attention if you want to take advantage of the safe harbours created under the new regime.
If we require any documents or information from a third party, we will contact you first to seek your approval to contact the third party.
In conducting this engagement, information acquired by us in the course of the engagement is subject to confidentiality requirements. That information will not be disclosed by us to other parties except as required or allowed for by law, or with your express consent.
We are bound by the provisions of the Privacy Act 1988 to maintain all records securely and in accordance with the provisions of that Act. Any breach of these requirements should be notified to the Privacy Commissioner. However, as noted above if we are subject to a PPQA review, your file may be reviewed as part of that process unless you specifically forbid it.
Involvement of other members in professional practice:
At times we may outsource some of our work which involves us entering into an agreement with a third party to provide specific processes, functions, services, or activities for us. If we decide to do this as part of performing the services for you, we will contact you first to seek your approval to engage other parties in professional practice.
This engagement is a contract between you and us, and you agree that none of the third parties we use will have any liability to you and you will not bring any claim or proceedings of any nature in connection with this engagement against any third party that we may use to provide the services. This exclusion will not apply to any liability, claim, or proceeding founded on an allegation of fraud or other liability that cannot be excluded under law.
Fees and billing arrangements:
We advise you that the above-mentioned professional service is the best indication of our service.
Ownership of Documents:
Unless agreed to the contrary, source documents such as ledgers, receipts, invoices and journals, correspondence between the ATO and you, ATO notices of assessment, letters of advice, books of account, tax returns, and financial statements prepared by us remain your property. Our working papers and documents remain our property.
Lien over Documents:
In the event of the termination of services, you are advised that we may invoke a lien over certain documents we have prepared and we will hold these documents until all outstanding fees have been paid, or satisfactory agreements have been made. A lien is a right to hold certain documents or property until the debt incurred in respect of those documents or property has been paid.
Acknowledgment and confirmation
I, hereby acknowledge and accept the terms of this engagement and agree to be liable for all fees for services performed in accordance with this agreement.