Taxation services

In engaging us to provide taxation services, it is important for you to understand the following:

·         You are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the particulars and information provided to us by you.
·         Any advice we provide is only an opinion based on our knowledge of your particular circumstances.
·         You have obligations under the self-assessment regime to keep full and proper records in order to facilitate the preparation of accurate returns.
·         We cannot provide taxation services if we find that information on which those services are to be based contain false or misleading information, or omit material information, and you are not prepared to appropriately amend that information.

Accounting and record-keeping

In undertaking our engagement, you are recommended to generally attend the following:

·         The bookkeeping for all Entities is maintained on a regular basis.  In fact, we recommend the bookkeeping and record-keeping tasks be attended to each week.
·         Reconciliations for the bank accounts, debtors and creditors are performed at the end of each month for each of the Entities.
·         A stocktake will be performed during the last weekend in June for each entity that deals in trading stock.
·         It is expected that the trial balance of each of the Entities will be completed no later than 31 August each year.

Documentation

Before we lodge any returns on your behalf, we will forward the documents to you for approval.  We will endeavour to ensure that the returns are lodged by the due dates and will advise you when documentation should be provided to us.  If you are late in providing information, we will do our best to meet the time limits, but we will not be responsible for any late lodgement penalties or interest charges you may incur.

No statutory financial audits are conducted

You and your employees are responsible for the maintenance of the accounting systems and internal controls for all the Entities.  That includes the keeping and maintenance of all required books of account.  Our firm cannot be relied upon to disclose irregularities, including fraud, and other illegal acts and errors that may occur with regard to such matters.

Our firm is not being engaged to conduct a statutory audit of the financial records of any of your Entities and we will not express an auditor's opinion as to the truth and fairness of the financial statements.

Ownership of documents

The financial statements, tax returns and any other documents which we are specifically engaged to prepare, together with any original documents given to us by you, shall be your property.  Any other documents brought into existence by us, including general working papers, the general ledger and draft documents will remain our property at all times.

If our services are terminated (by either party), each client separately agrees that we shall be entitled to retain all documents owned by that client (including all tax refund cheques of that client which come into our possession) until payment in full of all outstanding fees outstanding from all members of the Group on any account.  Where copies of any documents released to you are required for our records, you will be charged for the cost of photocopying at our normal rates.

Safe harbour

Since 1 March 2010, a new regime for the regulation of tax agents has applied under the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA) and the accompanying regulations.  The new regime has implications for registered tax agents and also for their clients.

An important feature of TASA is the provision of a “safe harbour” protection from penalties in certain circumstances for taxpayers who engage registered tax agents.

To obtain the benefits of safe harbour protection, the legislation requires the taxpayer to provide the registered tax agent with “all relevant taxation information” to enable accurate statements to be provided to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).  This requirement may be important to both parties in identifying and understanding the purpose and scope of the engagement as set out below and may also affect other matters discussed below.

You will find further discussion on the safe harbour protections in the accompanying document entitled Clients’ rights and obligations under the taxation laws.Since 1 March 2010, a new regime for the regulation of tax agents has applied under the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA) and the accompanying regulations.  The new regime has implications for registered tax agents and also for their clients.

An important feature of TASA is the provision of a “safe harbour” protection from penalties in certain circumstances for taxpayers who engage registered tax agents.

To obtain the benefits of safe harbour protection, the legislation requires the taxpayer to provide the registered tax agent with “all relevant taxation information” to enable accurate statements to be provided to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).  This requirement may be important to both parties in identifying and understanding the purpose and scope of the engagement as set out below and may also affect other matters discussed below.

You will find further discussion on the safe harbour protections in the accompanying document entitled Clients’ rights and obligations under the taxation laws.Type your paragraph here.

Service 

The Services to be provided by Platinum Cloud Consulting Pty Ltd are detailed in the Engagement Letter. From time to time, variations or additional services may be required that are not specifically mentioned in the Engagement Letter. These changes may arise through discussions in meetings, phone conversations, emails, or letters. It is understood that any such variations or additions will be fully governed by these Terms.

If additional or new work is requested, we reserve the right to determine whether to undertake the work and the terms under which it will be performed.

Fees and charges

Our services will be provided to you on a fee for service basis.

Unless otherwise stated in writing, any estimates which we provide to you of our anticipated fees, disbursements and charges for any work are only indicative of the amounts you can expect to be charged.  Estimates are not quoting or caps, and are not binding on us.

Where an estimate is given and the scope of the work changes, or if it becomes apparent that the work involves matters which were not taken into account in the estimate, we will endeavour to advise you and provide an amended estimate as soon as it is practicable to do so.

Any additional fee for an additional service not covered in the scope of this engagement will be the subject of a separate engagement letter under separate fee arrangements.

Each client in the Group is jointly and severally liable to pay our fees in respect of all work performed for all members of the Group.  It is our requirement that the owners/directors of the business personally guarantee the payment of all accounts for professional fees, including out-of-pocket expenses rendered by us from time to time. If you fail to provide a required guarantee, we may suspend work or terminate this engagement.

If we suspend work or terminate this engagement by reason of your failure to make a trust deposit or provide a guarantee as required, we will not be liable for any loss or damage suffered by any client in the Group as a result of the suspension or termination.

It is our requirement that the owners/directors of the business personally guarantee the payment of all accounts for professional fees, including out-of-pocket expenses rendered by us from time to time.Type your paragraph here.

GST – Disbursements

In addition to our professional fees, you will be responsible for payment of expenses which we incur on your behalf (together with the GST that we pay in relation to such expenses), as set out below.

Certain government charges and fees included in some matters undertaken in the scope of our engagement are effectively GST-free to the applicant, but will attract the 10% GST if paid by this firm and then passed on to you as part of our services. 

Accordingly, for certain disbursements in this category, namely:

·         ASIC fees;
·         new company and trust deed orders; and
·         other specific disbursements notified from time to time,

we will act as your agents in incurring those disbursements.  You will therefore technically be primarily liable to pay the account to the supplier. Under this agency relationship, you will receive the benefit of any concessional GST treatment of any part of the disbursement.

Where GST is payable on some or all of a supply acquired by us as your agent, we will forward you the Tax Invoice and you will be entitled to claim the input tax credits directly if you have an ABN and are entitled to claim input tax credits.

For disbursements incurred in this manner, we may in some cases require that you provide us with separate cheques for the relevant amounts to be paid directly to the relevant government body or supplier.

For all other disbursements (e.g., couriers, searches, photocopying, etc.) the treatment will be the same as for professional fees – i.e., we will incur the costs at first instance and invoice them on to you after making allowance for any GST input tax credits received by us on the acquisition.  These invoices will include GST for which you may be entitled to claim an input tax credit.Type your paragraph here.

Limitation of liability

Our liability is limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation. Further information on the scheme is available from the Professional Standards Councils’ website: psc.gov.au.

PLATINUM CLOUD consulting

Client Responsibilities

You or your staff will be responsible for maintaining and regularly balancing all books of accounts, and the maintenance of an adequate accounting and internal control system. 

Please be aware that:

(a) you are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the particulars and information provided in relation to taxation services and this responsibility rests with you;

(b) any advice given to you is only an opinion based on our knowledge of your particular circumstances; and

(c) a taxpayer has obligations under self assessment to keep full and proper records in order to facilitate the preparation of accurate returns. It is the taxpayer’s responsibility to keep those records for five (5) years.

Any information acquired by us in the course of our engagement, including any information relating to your affairs whether or not it belongs to you or not or is provided by you or not, is subject to strict confidentiality requirements. Information will not be disclosed by us to other parties except as required or allowed for by law or regulations, or with your express consent unless we determine that disclosure of the non-compliance or suspected non-compliance to an appropriate authority is an appropriate course of action in the circumstances. Our files may, however, be subject to review as part of the quality control review program of CPA Australia which monitors compliance with professional standards by its members. We advise you that by signing this letter you acknowledge that, if requested, our files relating to this engagement will be made available under this program. The same strict confidentiality requirements apply under this program as apply to us.

We may collect Personal Information about you, your representatives, your clients and others when we provide services to you. If we do, you agree to work with us to ensure that we both meet the obligations that we each may have under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (as amended) (Privacy Act). The obligations may include notifying the relevant person to whom the personal information relates who we are and how we propose to use their personal information. Where you have collected personal information, you confirm that you have collected the personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act, that you are entitled to provide this personal information to us and that we may use and disclose the personal information for the purpose/s we provide our services to you. We will handle personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act.

You are responsible for ensuring that your business activities are conducted in accordance with laws and regulations. You are also responsible for identifying and addressing any non-compliance by an individual charged with governance of the entity, by a member of management, or by other individuals working for or under the direction of your business.

A taxpayer is responsible under self assessment to keep full and proper records in order to facilitate the preparation of a correct return. Whilst the Commissioner of Taxation will accept claims made by a taxpayer in an income tax return and issue a notice of assessment, usually without adjustment, the return may be subject to later review. Under the taxation law such a review may take place within a period of up to four (4) years after tax becomes due and payable under the assessment. Furthermore, where there is fraud or evasion there is no time limit on amending the assessment. Accordingly, you should check the return before it is signed to ensure that the information in the return is accurate.

Where the application of a taxation law to your particular circumstances is uncertain you also have the right to request a private ruling which will set out the Commissioner’s opinion about the way a taxation law applies, or would apply, to you in those circumstances. You must provide a description of all of the facts (with supporting documentation) that are relevant to your scheme or circumstances in your private ruling application. If there is any material difference between the facts set out in the ruling and what you actually do the private ruling is ineffective.

If you rely on a private ruling you have received, the Commissioner must administer the law in the way set out in the ruling, unless it is found to be incorrect and applying the law correctly would lead to a better outcome for you. Where you disagree with the decision in the private ruling you can lodge an objection against the ruling if it relates to income tax, fuel tax credit or fringe benefits tax. Your time limits in lodging an objection will depend on whether you are issued an assessment for the matter (or period) covered by the private ruling.Type your paragraph here.

Terms and Conditions

Compilation of financial statements

By engaging us to compile financial statements, you acknowledge that:

·         the reliability, accuracy and completeness of the accounting records are your responsibility; and

·         that you have disclosed to us all material and relevant information.

Our work will be conducted in accordance with the relevant professional and ethical standards issued by the Accounting Professional & Ethical Standards Board Limited (APESB), including the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants. The extent of our procedures and services will be limited exclusively for this purpose only. As a result, no audit or review will be performed and, accordingly, no assurance will be expressed.

Our engagement cannot be relied upon to disclose irregularities including fraud, other illegal acts and errors that may exist. However, we may, as part of our responsibilities as a Member in Public Practice, take steps and actions as set out in Section 225 of the Code, “Responding to Non-Compliance with Laws and Regulations”. These include but are not limited to the following,

-       During the course of our engagement, if we identify or suspect that non-compliance with laws or regulations has occurred or may occur, which may have a direct effect on material amounts or disclosures in the financial statements or compliance with which may be fundamental to the operating aspects of your business, to its ability to continue its operation or to avoid material penalty, we will discuss the matter with the appropriate level of management, those charged with governance or the internal auditor, as appropriate, to enable you to rectify, remediate or mitigate the consequences of the identified or suspected non-compliance or deter the commission of the non-compliance where it has not yet occurred.

-       We will consider whether to communicate the non-compliance or suspected noncompliance with its external auditor if applicable, unless prohibited by law or regulation. We will also consider, based on materiality and/or significance of the matter, whether further action is needed in the public interest.  Further action may include disclosing the matter to an appropriate authority even when there is no legal or regulatory requirement to do so or withdrawing from the engagement and the professional relationship where permitted by law or regulation.

-       Where appropriate we will inform you of our intention to disclose the matter to an appropriate authority before disclosing the matter. However, if we have reason to believe that the actual or intended conduct would constitute an imminent breach of a law or regulation that would cause substantial harm to investors, creditors, employees or the general public, we may immediately disclose the matter to an appropriate authority in order to prevent or mitigate the consequences of such imminent breach of law or regulation.

We understand that an audit of the Financial Accounts is not required, and therefore we will not be expressing an opinion as to the truth and fairness of those statements.  However, we will inform you of any such matters that come to our attention.