What is Tax Financial Advice Services (TFAS)?

A specific authorisation that not all advisers hold

Tax financial advice services - commonly abbreviated to TFAS - is a specific category of financial advice authorisation in Australia. If you need advice that involves the tax implications of financial decisions, it matters whether your adviser holds this authorisation. Not all do, and the difference is significant if your situation involves tax planning as part of your broader financial strategy.

What TFAS actually covers

TFAS authorises a financial adviser to provide advice about the tax consequences of financial product decisions. This is narrower than it might sound. It covers the tax implications of decisions about financial products - superannuation, investments, insurance - rather than general tax advice about your income, deductions or business structure. That remains the domain of a registered tax agent.

In practical terms, TFAS allows an adviser to tell you things like: the tax consequences of rolling your superannuation from one fund to another, the capital gains tax implications of selling an investment held inside versus outside super, or the tax treatment of different contribution strategies. Without TFAS authorisation, an adviser is limited in how far they can take advice that involves these tax dimensions.

The authorisation exists because financial and tax advice are deeply intertwined in Australia. Almost every meaningful financial decision has tax implications, and advice that ignores tax is often incomplete advice. TFAS was introduced to allow financial advisers to address the tax angle of financial product decisions without needing a separate tax agent licence.

What TFAS does not cover

TFAS is not a substitute for a tax agent. An adviser with TFAS authorisation cannot prepare or lodge your tax return, advise on business tax structures, provide advice about deductions unrelated to financial products, or give advice about GST or other tax obligations. Those services require a registered tax agent licence issued by the Tax Practitioners Board.

The boundary between what a TFAS-authorised adviser can and can't advise on is sometimes blurry in practice, and advisers are required to stay within their authorisations. If tax advice you need falls outside what TFAS covers, a good adviser will tell you and refer you to a tax agent rather than overstepping.

How to tell if an adviser holds TFAS authorisation

TFAS authorisation is listed on the ASIC Financial Advisers Register for each adviser. On this directory, each adviser profile shows their product authorisations, and TFAS is displayed where it applies. You can search for advisers near you and filter or check profiles to confirm whether a specific adviser holds this authorisation before making contact.

It is worth checking this before your first meeting if your financial situation has significant tax dimensions - for example if you are approaching retirement and considering how to draw down superannuation in a tax-effective way, or if you have an investment portfolio with complex capital gains considerations.

TFAS and superannuation advice

TFAS is particularly relevant in the context of superannuation advice. Many of the most impactful superannuation strategies - salary sacrificing, timing of contributions, transition to retirement, moving assets between accumulation and pension phase - have significant tax implications. An adviser who can address those implications directly, rather than giving you general superannuation advice and telling you to check with a tax agent separately, is able to give you more complete and useful advice.

This is one reason why checking for TFAS authorisation is worthwhile when looking for a superannuation specialist.

TFAS and SMSF advice

For self-managed superannuation fund advice, TFAS is similarly relevant. SMSFs have specific tax treatment and the decisions made within a fund - investment choices, pension phase timing, contribution strategies - all have tax consequences that a comprehensive adviser should be able to address. Not all SMSF advisers hold TFAS authorisation, so it is worth confirming if this is important to your situation.

Working with both an adviser and a tax agent

Even where an adviser holds TFAS authorisation, many clients benefit from having both a financial adviser and a tax agent. The adviser handles investment strategy, superannuation, insurance and financial planning. The tax agent handles the annual return, business tax obligations and broader tax compliance. The two professionals ideally work together and share relevant information with your permission.

If your adviser does not hold TFAS authorisation, this collaboration becomes more important - the adviser and tax agent need to coordinate on any financial decisions that have tax implications to ensure you're getting complete advice rather than two partial pieces of advice that don't account for each other.

Finding a TFAS-authorised adviser

You can search for registered financial advisers near you on this directory, which draws directly from the ASIC Financial Advisers Register and is updated weekly. Each adviser profile shows their full list of product authorisations including whether they hold TFAS authorisation.

Advisers with TFAS authorisation are listed across all states - New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and all other states and territories - and in most suburban and regional areas across the country.