Expresstax

General Terms of Use of Our Website

In preparing this site, every effort has been made to provide the most current, accurate, and clearly expressed information possible. However, inadvertent errors may occur, and laws, rules, and regulations are subject to change. The information provided on this site is general in nature and is not intended to constitute advice. No warranty is given regarding the accuracy or reliability of any information presented. Users should not take or refrain from taking action based on the information contained herein. We strongly encourage consulting ExpressTax for tailored advice before making any decisions.

ExpressTax disclaims all liability for any loss, damage, or consequence arising from any actions taken or omitted based wholly or partially on the information provided on this site.

No part of this site's text or graphics may be reproduced, transmitted, or distributed by any means-electronic, mechanical, or otherwise-including photocopying, facsimile transmission, recording, or use in information storage and retrieval systems, without prior written permission from ExpressTax. For permission or additional information, please contact ExpressTax directly.

Electronic addresses provided on this site are for professional communications only. They do not constitute an invitation to send unsolicited commercial emails unrelated to ExpressTax's business activities.

Some links on this site direct users to resources maintained by third parties over whom ExpressTax has no control. Accordingly, ExpressTax makes no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy, currency, or reliability of information on those external sites or the timely, accurate, or complete transmission of such information.

Acknowledgment

These Terms and Conditions, together with our Privacy Policy, govern your use of our Website and form the agreement between you and us when you access and use our Website.

Our Terms and Conditions outline the rights and obligations of both parties concerning access and use of the Website.

Acceptance

Your access to and use of our Website are conditional upon your acceptance of these Terms and Conditions.

By using our Website, you confirm that you have read, understood, and accepted these Terms and Conditions and our Privacy Policy. You agree to be legally bound by them.

If you disagree with any part of these Terms and Conditions, you must immediately cease using our Website.

We reserve the right to amend these Terms and Conditions at any time. Your continued use of the Website constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms and Conditions. Please review these Terms periodically to stay informed of changes. If you have suggestions, you may submit them for our consideration.

If any provision of these Terms is deemed void, invalid, or unenforceable, it will be enforced to the maximum extent permitted by law, and the remaining provisions will remain valid and binding.

Privacy Policy

At ExpressTax, we are committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, and safeguard personal information in compliance with the Privacy Act and National Privacy Principles (NPPs).

The NPPs include:

Collection
Use and disclosure
Data quality
Data security
Openness
Access and correction
Identifiers
Anonymity
Transborder data flows
Sensitive information

This policy applies to all employees, whether permanent, contract, or casual.

Responsibility

We collect personal information only when necessary for our business functions or activities and do so by lawful and fair means. Information will not be used for unrelated purposes without your consent.

All personal and confidential information is securely stored. We will not share income details, residential addresses, or other sensitive information with third parties without your prior consent, except as required by law.

Client Information

We respect the confidentiality of the private information you entrust to us. This information will remain within our organisation unless released at the client’s request or as required by law.

Tax Back in 7 Days – Terms & Conditions

“Tax back in 7 days” refers to seven working days and is subject to Australian Tax Office (ATO) processing times. ExpressTax will process refunds based on the information and documentation provided by the client.

ExpressTax is not responsible for refund delays or issues where:

The client has already applied for and received a refund;
The client provides false, inaccurate, or incomplete information;
The client has an outstanding tax debt with the ATO.

Appointment of Agent and Request for Business Services

When you submits an Appointment of Agent and Request for Services via the Express Tax website and agrees to the terms by ticking the relevant box, this action serves as authorisation for Express Tax to proceed with Business services and tax agent services. This agreement is considered equivalent to a physical signature and confirms the client’s acceptance of the applicable service fees.

If the relevant Tax Office sends the refund directly to you instead of Express Tax, you remains liable to pay the full processing fee for the services rendered.

Our engagement commences once you appoint us as agent and request our services by applying online thru the website.

The engagement remains in force until you terminate this engagement at any time by notifying us in writing.

Additional Services

Express Tax may provide value-added services to clients, for which additional fees will apply. These services may include:

DASP Claims
Lost Monies claims
Document retrieval.
Organisation of residency and non-residency documents.
Amendments to previous returns.

Refund Process

Refunds received from the Tax Office will be forwarded to the client as agreed. When Express Tax receives the refund directly, service fees will be deducted before the balance is sent to the client.

You agree that we can bank into our trust account, any refund amounts received on your behalf. You also authorise us to apply any trust monies held on your behalf towards payment of fees and disbursements, and to meet our bill of costs which have been incurred.

For refunds processed via cheque or international money transfer, Express Tax is not responsible for any local bank fees incurred by the client.

Amendments to Terms

Express Tax reserves the right to update or amend these Terms and Conditions. Any changes will be published on the website.

Submitting a registration to Express Tax—whether via the web, post, hand delivery, fax, or email—constitutes agreement to these Terms and Conditions, including future amendments.

Express Tax ensures that all client information is kept private and confidential.

Tax File Number (TFN) Collection

Express Tax collects your Tax File Number (TFN) under the Taxation Administration Act 1953 and the Privacy Act 1988 for preparing and lodging your tax return or superannuation refund application.

Providing your TFN is not mandatory; however, not doing so may cause delays or affect the ability to provide services. TFNs will be handled securely and in compliance with privacy regulations. For details, refer to our [Privacy Policy].

Passport Collection

As part of our commitment to security and regulatory compliance, Express Tax may request clients to provide official identification documents, including a passport.

Why We Collect Passport Information

To verify client identity and prevent fraud.
To comply with regulatory requirements, including Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) laws.

How We Handle Your Passport Information.

Passport information will only be used for identity verification related to tax return processes.
All personal information will be securely stored and accessed only by authorised personnel.
Passport information will not be shared with third parties except as required by law.
Information will be retained only as long as necessary and securely destroyed when no longer needed.

By submitting passport or identification documents, you consent to the collection, use, and storage of your information as outlined in these terms.

Term of the Engagement for Tax Agent Services

Our engagement commences once you appoint us as agent and request services by applying online thru the website. You can terminate this engagement at any time by notifying us in writing. We also reserve the right to do so by providing you with 14 days' written notice.

Responsibilities and obligations

In engaging us to provide the above taxation services, it is important to understand that:You are responsible for providing all relevant information to us in a timely manner, and for the accuracy and completeness of the information provided;You have obligations under the self-assessment regime to keep full and proper records in order to facilitate the preparation of accurate income tax returns on your behalf;

any advice we provide is only an opinion based on our knowledge of your circumstances; and

we cannot provide taxation services if we find that information on which those services are to be based includes false or misleading information, or material information is omitted, and You are not prepared to appropriately amend it to provide us with correct and complete information.

You must have all source documentation available to allow us to analyse the income tax implications of any transaction, should we request to see it. As a matter of course, we will not be looking at, or auditing, these documents. However, You are required to have them available before any claim is made in your income tax return.

Also, in some circumstances, we may request to see source documents if clarification is required or a tax issue is particularly contentious.

You must have the necessary documents to comply with the substantiation requirements of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997. We will advise You of the requirements relating to your tax return and of the necessity to obtain acceptable receipts as required by the law.

However, we will not be checking that the substantiation requirements have been met. This means we will not be reviewing, for example, your logbook or any calculations or information provided to us, such as a rental property schedule prepared by You or a property manager.

If You require assistance in completing a logbook or preparing any calculations, or You would like us to review such work, please discuss this with us. This will entail work which is outside the scope of this letter and will be charged as additional services.

By law, registered tax practitioners must not (in any capacity) make a statement to (or prepare a statement that they know or ought reasonably to know is likely to be made to) the ATO, the TPB or another Australian government agency, or permit or direct someone else to make or prepare such a statement, that they know or ought reasonably to know is false, incorrect, or misleading in a material particular, or omits any matter or thing without which the statement is misleading in a material respect.

If we become aware that a statement we made or prepared (or permitted or directed another to do so) to the ATO, the TPB or another Australian government agency on your behalf was false, incorrect or misleading in a material particular (including by omission) at the time it was made, we may advise you to take action to correct the false or misleading statement.

If a reasonable period of time after providing this advice, we are not reasonably satisfied that you have corrected the statement (or provided consent for us to correct it) or adequately explained the basis for the statement, we may take further action. In some cases, this may include withdrawing from the engagement and notifying the ATO or TPB about the matter.

Ownership of documents

The income tax returns that we are 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 and draft documents will remain our property.

In accordance with our statutory obligations under the TASA, we will also retain all records of the tax agent services provided to you. We will retain these records for at least five years after the relevant services have been provided, even if our engagement is terminated.

If our services are terminated (by either party), You agree that we shall be entitled to retain all documents owned by You (including all your tax refund cheques which come into our possession) until payment in full of all our outstanding fees.

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.

Fees, disbursements and trust monies

Our services will be provided to You on a fee-for-service basis. The fees are based on the complexity of the work and can be up to 20%. In addition to our professional fees, You will be responsible for payment of expenses which we incur on your behalf. However, the fee for this service does not cover any inquiries made to us, or investigations involving us, conducted by the ATO. Substantial penalties can apply for an incorrectly prepared income tax return.

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 quotes 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 that were not taken into account in the estimate, we will advise You and provide an amended estimate as soon as it is practicable to do so.

We may require You to deposit money (including any tax refunds due to You) into our trust account in anticipation of our fees and charges. If You fail to make a required trust deposit, we may suspend work or terminate this engagement.

If we suspend work or terminate this engagement by reason of your failure to make a deposit as required, we will not be liable for any loss or damage that You may suffer as a result.

Additional services

Our fee applies only to the taxation services provided within the scope of our engagement, being the preparation and lodgment of your tax return each year. This fee includes checking and forwarding original assessments and payment notices received from the ATO.

Any additional services or advice (for example, tax planning advice) that You request are outside the scope of this letter and are not included in this agreed fee.

Please note that any correspondence from the ATO that does not relate to initial assessments or original payment notices will be charged as additional services.

Complaints and dispute resolution

If You have any complaints or disputes in relation to this engagement, we ask that You please contact [insert name and contact details] in the first instance. We will endeavor to resolve any issues respectfully and as quickly as possible.

If we cannot resolve the issue or you are not satisfied with how we have handled your complaint or with the outcome, you may be able to escalate the matter to the TPB.

If your complaint is about fees, you may be asked to contact Consumer Affairs or the Office of Fair Trading in your State or Territory.

Confidentiality

We have an ethical duty and a legal responsibility to keep information acquired as a result of this engagement confidential. This means that we will not disclose confidential information relating to You without your permission, unless there is a legal duty for us to do so.

We will also not use any such information for our own personal advantage or for the advantage of a third party.

Non-compliance with Laws and Regulations (NOCLAR)

During the performance of our work under this engagement, we may detect conduct or a transaction that is considered to constitute NOCLAR, which has a material effect on any documents or information that might be required to be provided to a regulatory authority, such as the ATO. If we detect any NOCLAR, we may have a professional requirement to make a disclosure to a regulatory authority. We will follow a formal process which will include advising You of our concerns and, if necessary, seeking legal advice.

If we do seek legal advice in relation to any NOCLAR, we reserve the right to ask You to pay or reimburse us for our reasonable costs.

If we are required to make such a disclosure, You agree to forever release us from any claim for costs or losses You incur in responding to or dealing with anything arising from our disclosure.

Losses from unauthorised cyber activity

We will take all reasonable precautions to ensure that any electronic data that contains your private information is securely stored and that any email transmissions are protected and are not able to be intercepted by third parties.

However, we cannot be held liable for any loss that You might incur as a consequence of any third-party intervention that accesses, procures or copies any data that contains your private information from any medium or device we use to store or transmit such information.

In the event that, despite our firm having taken reasonable precautions to securely store your private information, You suffer any losses arising from unauthorised cyber activity, You agree to forever release us from any claim for your losses.

Conflicts of interest

We will inform you if we become aware of any conflict of interest in our relationship with you or in our relationship with you and another client of this firm.

Where conflicts are identified which cannot be managed in a way that protects your interests, then we may be unable to continue with the engagement. If this arises, we will inform you promptly.

Professional indemnity insurance

We confirm that our firm maintains adequate professional indemnity insurance cover and that our policy complies with the minimum requirements of the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB).

Limitation of liability

Our firm's liability may be limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards legislation and applicable regulations of the Professional Body.

Authority for ATO digital communication preferences

You agree to have the following types of ATO communication sent digitally to us, as your registered tax agent, on your behalf (*delete any items that are not applicable):

Income tax.
Superannuation.
Lost Super
Study and training support loans.
Activity statement-related.
Debt.
Employer and business obligations.

You hereby authorise us to change or withdraw our preferred address for service of ATO communications. You also declare that the information supplied by You, for the setting or updating of these communication preferences, is true and correct.