Chartered accountant GAIL FREEMAN previews a program designed to protect businesses from criminal exploitation through money laundering, terrorism financing, and is designed to ensure a safer Australian financial system.

From July 1, 2026, when you visit your accountant, real estate agent, lawyer, conveyancer or dealer in precious stones and metals they will be required to complete an anti-money laundering (AML) form known as an AML/CTF form.

Financial planners have had to complete this form for some years, but all the above named professionals have been included in new legislation.

At present tax agents must obtain ID from all their clients. So the proposed AML laws are an extension of current ID requirements.

I am writing about this now so that you are aware of the additional form accountants and the other named professionals will have to complete.

You need to be aware of this when your accountant asks you to sign the relevant form. It is quite a simple form and requires two forms of ID so that you can be given a clean bill of health.

The professionals named above will be able to register from March 31, 2026, when the new laws take effect.

AUSTRAC is the agency that monitors these regulations. You may have encountered the legislation when travelling overseas with a large amount of cash. This new legislation is an extension of the original legislation to include the additional professionals.

From the point of view of the named professionals, we will have to set up a training regime, an internal office system and a process to deal with the additional work.

The program has to be documented and approved and it must be kept up to date to reflect significant changes and independently evaluated regularly.

The program is designed to protect businesses from criminal exploitation through money laundering, terrorism financing, and is designed to ensure a safer Australian financial system.

You can expect questions to be asked by your relevant professional and it is part of the process that the due diligence must be conducted before you are provided with advice.

Obviously this may be a little different to what has happened in your interviews in the past.

In a CityNews column in August 2024 I wrote of a changed set of rules that govern tax agents and how they provide services to clients. These rules now come into effect for smaller firms from July 1, namely firms with less than 100 employees.

Expect to be asked more questions, your work will be supervised to the extent possible in that tax agent’s office and we have to have more extensive file notes of all advice provided. For many tax agents this will result in more work and, in many cases, there will be additional fees.

I cannot over emphasise that clients will need evidence for all tax claims and it’s really important that if your phone is in your name and you are able to make a claim for business use, you claim it personally not in your company or trust.

There have been cases in the last few weeks where claims were disallowed because they were made in the wrong entity.

If you need advice on record-keeping, the new tax-agent rules or any other tax or superannuation related matter, contact the expert team at Gail Freeman & Co Pty Ltd on 02 6295 2844, email info@gailfreeman.com.au or visit gailfreeman.com.au

Disclaimer
This column contains general advice, please do not rely on it. If you require specific advice on this topic please contact Gail Freeman or your professional adviser. Authorised Representative of Lifespan Financial Planning Pty Ltd AFS Lic No. 229892.