The rules that apply to you: the tax advice boundary
If you pay for a comparison of a farm machinery lease against a buy, the tax treatment is the work of a registered tax agent, not of the tool. The Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (Cth) prohibits providing, advertising or holding out a tax agent service for a fee unless registered, and places conduct obligations on the agent.
This page reads the instrument The Art of Service holds, the Australia Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (Cth). Each rule below is our own statement of a clause we hold, checked against the copy we hold and cited to its clause, and the framework is linked so you can read it yourself. Where a provision is not held at clause level, the page names it and does not state its text.
Grounded in the standards we hold: the Australia Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (Cth), 32 controls across 5 domains, read clause by clause and stated in our own words, each cited to its clause. Open the Australia Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (Cth).
Which rules apply to a machinery comparison sheet?
The Act regulates who may provide a tax agent service for a fee. A comparison that just does arithmetic on your own figures and shows the timing is not a statement of your liability, so it stays outside the prohibition. The moment a paid service ascertains your liability or advises you on a taxation law, it is a tax agent service and only a registered agent may provide it. This sheet stops at the arithmetic, states its assumptions, and points you to your accountant. The obligations below are the held rules that sit on the agent who does the rest.
Who may provide a tax agent service for a fee?
Australia Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (Cth), held at 32 controls across four Parts and the Code of Professional Conduct Determination 2024. Applies to a registered tax agent and BAS agent, and to anyone who provides a tax agent service for a fee.
Part 4A and Part 5: prohibited conduct and the registration requirement
- Do not provide, advertise or hold out a tax agent service, a BAS service or a tax (financial) advice service unless you are registered for it. (s 50-5 to s 50-18)
- Sign a declaration on a document only where the agent prepared it or supervised and controlled its preparation. (s 50-30)
- Do not make or prepare a false or misleading statement to the Commissioner, or to the Board where unregistered. (s 50-20)
How must a registered agent behave when they do the work?
Part 3: Code of Professional Conduct (s 30-10)
- Act honestly and with integrity. (s 30-10(1))
- Comply with the taxation laws in the agent's own affairs. (s 30-10(2))
- Account to a client for money or property held on trust. (s 30-10(3))
- Act lawfully in the best interests of the client. (s 30-10(4))
- Maintain adequate arrangements to manage conflicts of interest. (s 30-10(5))
- Keep client information confidential unless the law requires or permits otherwise. (s 30-10(6))
- Provide services competently, and maintain the knowledge and skills for them. (s 30-10(7) and (8))
- Take reasonable care to ascertain the client's affairs and to apply the tax law correctly. (s 30-10(9) and (10))
- Do not knowingly obstruct the proper administration of the taxation laws. (s 30-10(11))
- Advise the client of their rights and obligations under the taxation laws. (s 30-10(12))
- Maintain professional indemnity insurance meeting the Board's requirements. (s 30-10(13))
- Respond to a Board request or direction in a timely, responsible and reasonable way. (s 30-10(14))
- Do not use, or deal through, a disqualified entity without Board approval. (s 30-10(15) and (16))
The Code of Professional Conduct Determination 2024 (the s 30-10(17) obligations)
- Uphold and promote the Code, and avoid conduct that may undermine public trust in the tax profession or the tax system. (Determination s 10)
- Do not make, prepare or permit a false or misleading statement to the Board, the Commissioner or another government agency, and correct, advise on, withdraw or notify a past statement found to be false or misleading. (Determination s 15(1) to (3))
- Identify, disclose and manage conflicts of interest in work for government agencies, and keep information from those agencies confidential. (Determination s 20 and s 25)
- Keep proper client records of the services provided for at least five years. (Determination s 30)
- Ensure anyone providing services on the agent's behalf is competent and appropriately supervised, and run a documented system of quality management. (Determination s 35 and s 40)
- Keep current and prospective clients informed about the register, complaints and the agent's obligations. (Determination s 45)
What must a registered agent notify, and when?
Part 3 Subdivision 30-C: notification obligations
- Notify the Board within 30 days of a change of circumstances that affects registration. (s 30-35)
- Self-report the agent's own significant breach of the Code within 30 days. (s 30-35(1)(ba))
- Report another agent's significant breach of the Code to the Board, and to the relevant professional association, within 30 days. (s 30-40)
Part 2: registration and renewal
- Keep the registration requirements: fit and proper, the qualifications, the insurance, and enough registered individuals. (s 20-5)
- Renew within the renewal window with continuing professional education and insurance evidenced. (s 20-50)
How are the scope and the applicability stated?
The instrument is held at thirty-two controls across four Parts and the Code of Professional Conduct Determination 2024, so a citation names the section or the Determination clause the control carries, and not the words of a subsection. Applicability turns on the person: a registered tax agent or BAS agent carrying out the work, and anyone who provides a tax agent service for a fee. The Act's own definition of a tax agent service sits in the definitions in Part 6, which this holding does not carry at clause level, so this page names that the definition exists and does not state its text.
Where a rule is not held in full, what happens?
The definitional provisions and the Board's own practice statements sit beside the controls held here, and this page names them without stating their text. The taxation laws the agent applies, the GST law, the depreciation provisions and the administrative practice on the instant asset write-off are separate instruments and are not part of this framework: the tool reads the tax office pages on those at build time and dates them, and where a rule moves the page carries the date it was read. Nothing on this page is invented to fill a gap.
How does Lease Buy Comparator itself reflect these rules?
The tool does arithmetic and nothing more. Every rate, term, residual, effective life, marginal rate and end value is asked for and labelled your own assumption, because a registered agent must take reasonable care to ascertain the client's affairs and apply the law correctly (s 30-10(9) and (10)) and a tool that guessed them would be applying the law on facts it does not hold. The sheet states plainly that it is a decision aid, not financial or tax advice, that your accountant confirms the treatment and that your lender decides the finance. Nothing you paste is stored unless you save a scenario to your own account, so the tool keeps no client records of its own and the confidentiality and record-keeping duties stay with the agent. The tool never lodges a return, never signs a declaration and never states your liability.
Frequently asked questions
Can this tool lodge my tax return or give me tax advice?
No. Lodging a return and advising on the tax law for a fee is the work of a registered tax agent (Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (Cth) s 50-5, which prohibits providing a tax agent service for a fee unless registered). This sheet does the present-value arithmetic on the figures you paste and shows the deduction timing, and your accountant confirms the tax treatment.
Why does the sheet say every rate and residual is my assumption?
Because a registered tax agent must take reasonable care to ascertain a client's affairs and to apply the tax law correctly (s 30-10(9) and (10)), and act in the client's best interests (s 30-10(4)). A tool that guessed your marginal rate, your entity or your effective life would be applying the law on facts it does not hold. This sheet asks for them and labels each one an assumption for your accountant.
Is a lease-versus-buy comparison a tax agent service?
It can be, if a person ascertains a liability or advises on a taxation law for a fee without being registered. Providing, advertising or holding out a tax agent service without registration is prohibited (s 50-5). This tool is offered as arithmetic and a decision aid, it never asserts your liability, and it points you to a registered agent for the treatment.
What must a registered agent do that this tool does not?
A registered agent must act honestly and with integrity (s 30-10(1)), take reasonable care (s 30-10(9)), keep client information confidential (s 30-10(6)) and keep proper client records for at least five years (Code of Professional Conduct Determination 2024, s 30). This tool reads only what you paste, stores nothing unless you save a scenario, and keeps no client records of its own.