MCA Terms Of Service
This statement is to confirm our understanding of the terms of our engagement and the nature and limitations of the services we will provide.
You acknowledge and agree that, by accessing, or using the services, you are indicating that you have read, understand and agree to be bound by the agreement. If you do not agree to these terms and all applicable additional terms, then you have no right to access or use any of the services.This information will be effective for future engagements unless we advise you of any change.
1. Scope
The scope of our engagement may include the preparation and lodgement of income tax returns,
preparation and lodgement of activity statements, preparation of financial statements, bookkeeping, providing accounting software subscriptions, setup and support in relation to bookkeeping software, and provision of advice in relation to taxation and superannuation matters.
If we consider we do not have the expertise to provide a particular service, we will decline to provide that service.
If the scope does not meet your requirements or you would like to discuss the scope with us further, please let us know.
We consider that we have the necessary expertise to perform the usual services we provide.
However, any non standard requests may require us to reconsider the terms of our engagement
and/or make new arrangements with you
2. Privacy
Your privacy is important to us. MCA’s Privacy Policy discloses the information we collect and how we use it. By using any of the Services, you agree to the terms of the Privacy Policy , so please review the Privacy Policy carefully. You affirm that you have read and accept the Privacy Policy and it terms.
3. Your Responsibility
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 you reasonably expect will be necessary to allow us to perform work contemplated under this engagement within a timely manner or as requested. This includes providing accurate and complete responses to questions asked of you by us within a reasonable time-frame. Inaccurate, incomplete or late information could have a material effect on our services and/or our conclusions and may result in additional fees. We will not verify the underlying accuracy or completeness of information you provide to us.
You are also required to advise us on a timely basis if there are any changes to your circumstances that may be relevant to the performance of our services. Specifically, if any subsequent event results in the information you provided to us being inaccurate, incomplete or misleading, then you are obliged to advise us as soon as possible. We take no responsibility to the extent that our advice is inaccurate, incomplete or misleading because it is based on inaccurate, incomplete or misleading information being provided to us.
By accepting these terms, you will be taken to have agreed that the performance of our services is dependent on the performance of your obligations relating to disclosure and record keeping.
The Taxation Administration Act 1953 contains specific provisions that may provide you with
“safe harbours” from administrative penalties for incorrect or late lodgement of returns if, among other things, you give us “all relevant taxation information” in a timely manner (the safe harbour provisions apply from 1 March 2010). 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 we have discharged our obligations to you.
You are also required to advise us if you become aware of any conflict of interest or potential
conflict of interest. Generally, a conflict of interest is any event which may result in us becoming
unable to remain objective in the performance of our services to you. Some examples of events
which could give rise to a conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest during this engagement are changes to your business circumstances, events affecting your family (eg. death and/or marriage breakdown) or a legal action commencing against you.
4. Your Rights And Obligations Under The Taxation Laws
You have certain rights under the taxation laws, including the right to seek a private ruling from
the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) or to appeal or object against a decision made by the Commissioner. As relevant, we will provide further information to you concerning your rights under the Australian taxation laws during the conduct of the engagement contemplated by this letter.
You also have certain obligations under the Australian taxation laws, such as the obligation to keep proper records and the obligation to lodge returns by the due date
5. Our Obligation To Comply With The Law
We have a duty to act in your best interests. However, the duty to act in your best interests is
subject to an overriding obligation to comply with the law even if that may require us to act in a
manner that may be contrary to your interests. For example, we could not lodge an income tax return for you that we knew to be false in a material respect. We also have an obligation to ensure that we manage conflicts of interest as they arise. In this regard, we have arrangements in place to ensure that we manage potential or actual conflicts of interest. The effective operation of these arrangements depends, in part, on you complying with your obligation to disclose any potential conflicts of interest to us (see above). Any advice given to you in the provision of these services is only an opinion based on our knowledge of your particular circumstances. Unless otherwise stated, this opinion will be based on the Australian tax law in force and the practice of the Australian Taxation Office (the ATO) applicable as at the date of the provision of the advice and/or services.
It is your responsibility to seek updated advice if you intend to rely on our advice at a later stage. We note that Australian taxation laws are often subject to frequent change and our advice will not be updated unless specifically requested by you
6. Trust Account
We maintain a separate trust account for dealing with all money and property received from you
or on your behalf, except for amounts received from you in payment of our fees. We may apply these
funds in payment of our bill with your written authorization.
7. Intellectual Property Rights
As between you and MCA, all original documents obtained from you arising from this engagement will remain your property. However, we reserve the right to make a reasonable number of copies of the original documents for our records.Our engagement will result in the production of tax returns, activity statements and financial statements. Ownership of these documents will vest in you. All other documents (including electronic data residing in
our online accounting software) produced by us in respect of this engagement will remain our property. We have a policy of exploring a legal right of lien over any of your documents in our possession in the event of a dispute between us. We have also established dispute resolution processes, details of which are available on request.
8. Timetable
Our Services will be performed in accordance with a timetable agreed with you
9. Disclaimer
THE SERVICES ARE ALL PROVIDED BY MCA ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, WITHOUT ANY REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES, COVENANTS OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND. M-TAXS DO NOT WARRANT OR REPRESENT THAT THE SERVICES, OR ANY PART THEREOF, WILL OPERATE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE. MCA DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES AND REPRESENTATIONS (EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ORAL OR WRITTEN), WHETHER ALLEGED TO ARISE BY OPERATION OF LAW, BY REASON OF CUSTOM OR USAGE IN THE TRADE, BY COURSE OF DEALING OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING ANY AND ALL: (I) WARRANTIES OF MERCHANT-ABILITY; (II) WARRANTIES OF FITNESS OR SUITABILITY FOR ANY PURPOSE (WHETHER OR NOT MCA KNOWS, HAS REASON TO KNOW, HAS BEEN ADVISED OR IS OTHERWISE AWARE OF ANY SUCH PURPOSE); AND (III) WARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT OR CONDITION OF TITLE. NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED FROM M-TAX OR ELSEWHERE WILL CREATE ANY WARRANTY OR CONDITION NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THE AGREEMENT.
YOU SHALL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACCURACY AND QUALITY OF YOUR CONTENT, AND YOU UNDERSTAND THAT YOU MUST EVALUATE AND BEAR ALL RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES, OR YOUR RELIANCE ON THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, OR USEFULNESS OF THE SERVICES.
10. Limitation of Liability
OUR LIABILITY IS LIMITED BY A SCHEME APPROVED UNDER PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS LEGISLATION. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE SCHEME IS AVAILABLE FROM THE PROFESSIONAL STANDARD COUNCIL
11. General
The agreement is the complete and exclusive understanding and agreement between the parties regarding it subject matter, and supersedes all proposals, understandings or communications between the parties, oral or written, regarding its subject matter, unless you and MCA have executed a separate agreement governing your use of the Services, in which case such separate agreement(s) will control in relation to the relevant Services. The English language version of the Agreement is legally binding in case of any inconsistencies between the English version and any translations. Any terms or conditions contained in your use of services that are inconsistent with or in addition to the terms and conditions of the Agreement are hereby rejected by MCA and will be deemed null. You may not assign or transfer the Agreement or any rights granted hereunder, by operation of law or otherwise, without MCA’s prior written consent. Any attempt by you to do so, without such consent, will be void. Subject to the foregoing, the Agreement will bind and inure to the benefit of the parties, their successors and permitted assigns. Except as expressly set forth in the Agreement, the exercise by either party of any of its remedies under the Agreement will be without prejudice to its other remedies under the Agreement or otherwise. MCA will deliver all notices, approvals or other communications required or permitted under the Agreement, including those regarding modifications to the Agreement: (a) via e-mail (in each case to the address that you provide); or (ii) by posting to the Site. The failure by either party to enforce any provision of the Agreement will not constitute a waiver of future enforcement of that or any other provision. Any waiver, modification or amendment of any provision of the Agreement will be effective only if in writing and signed by authorized representatives of both parties. If any provision of the Agreement is held to be unenforceable or invalid that provision will be enforced to the maximum extent possible and the other provisions will remain in full force and effect.