Maximum Results Guarantee

1.1 The Maximum Result Guarantee (the “Guarantee”) is offered by Accountants Direct Pty Ltd (ABN 16 155 811 448) (“Accountants Direct”, “we”, “us”, “our”) to individual clients for whom we prepare and lodge an Australian individual income tax return under our Max-Result Tax Return™ service (“you”, “your”).

1.2 The Guarantee forms part of, and must be read together with, our standard engagement terms and sent to you for your approval prior to your tax lodgement and published at accountantsdirect.com.au. If there is any inconsistency, your engagement letter prevails to the extent of the inconsistency.

1.3 In plain words: if a better lawful result was available on the same information you gave us — a larger refund, or a smaller amount of tax payable — we will amend your return at no charge and refund our preparation fee. The rest of this document defines how that promise works.

2.1 “Business Day” means a day other than a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday in Queensland, Australia.

2.2 “Covered Return” means an Australian individual income tax return for a single income year that (a) we prepared; (b) we lodged with the Australian Taxation Office as your registered tax agent; and (c) you approved before lodgement, including your declaration under the Taxation Administration Act 1953 (Cth).

2.3 “Same Information” means the income details, records, receipts, statements, answers and other information you provided to us at or before the appointment at which the Covered Return was prepared, together with ATO pre-fill data available to us at that time. It does not include information you first provide, obtain or correct after lodgement, information you withheld or misstated, or documents you held but did not give us despite our requests.

2.4 “Better Result” means, for the same income year and on the Same Information, a tax outcome that is more favourable to you by $50 or more — being a larger refund, a smaller amount of tax payable, or a combination of both — and that is lawfully available, properly claimable and at least reasonably arguable within the meaning of the taxation law, without recourse to a position that would expose you to a false-or-misleading-statement penalty or that a registered tax agent could not certify under the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (Cth) and the TPB Code of Professional Conduct.

2.5 “Qualifying Assessment” means a written, itemised calculation or a lodged amendment prepared by another registered tax agent (registered with the Tax Practitioners Board at the time), identifying the specific items producing the Better Result and the legal basis for each — or a Better Result we identify ourselves on review.

3.1 If, within thirty (30) days after the date a Covered Return is lodged, a Qualifying Assessment demonstrates that a Better Result was available on the Same Information, we will:

(a) prepare and lodge the amendment to the Covered Return at no charge to you; and

(b) refund in full the preparation fee you paid us for that Covered Return (or, where our fee was deducted from your refund, pay you an amount equal to that fee), within [fourteen (14) days] of accepting the claim under clause 6.

3.2 The Guarantee is a promise about the quality of our preparation work. The additional refund (or reduction in tax payable) itself is paid or applied by the ATO through the amendment process — we do not pay tax outcomes out of our own pocket, and the ATO’s processing times are outside our control.

3.3 The Guarantee applies once per Covered Return. Where we identify the Better Result ourselves, we will tell you, and clause 3.1 applies as if a Qualifying Assessment had been provided.

4.1 The Guarantee does not apply where the different outcome arises from:

(a) information that was not Same Information — including income, deductions, offsets or circumstances you did not disclose to us, disclosed inaccurately, or first raised after lodgement;

(b) a change in your circumstances, a choice or election you make differently after lodgement, or documents (such as receipts or logbooks) created or located after the appointment;

(c) a change in taxation law, ATO rulings, ATO practice or interpretation occurring after lodgement, or the retrospective application of any of these;

(d) positions that are not lawfully available or not reasonably arguable, including estimates unsupported by substantiation the law requires — a bigger number is not a Better Result if it cannot be lawfully claimed and defended;

(e) differences in ATO assessment outcomes (including audit, review, data-matching adjustments, offsets against existing debts, or withholding discrepancies) rather than in the preparation of the return itself;

(f) returns you or a third party amended or lodged over, other than through the claim process in clause 5; and

(g) returns prepared by us but not lodged because you did not provide your approval and declaration.

4.2 The Guarantee covers our preparation fee for the Covered Return only. It does not extend to fees for other services (including other years’ returns, BAS, bookkeeping or advisory work), and it is not a promise that your refund will be larger, or your tax payable smaller, than any particular figure, prior year, estimate, or another person’s outcome.

5.1 To claim, notify us in writing at support@accountantsdirect.com.au within the 30-day period in clause 3.1, and provide the Qualifying Assessment, including the other agent’s name, registration number, itemised calculation and stated legal basis.

5.2 You must give us a reasonable opportunity to review the Qualifying Assessment before any amendment is lodged by anyone else. You authorise us to discuss the claimed Better Result with the other registered agent where reasonable to verify it.

6.1 We will review the claim, acting reasonably, and notify you of the outcome within ten (10) Business Days of receiving everything in clause 5.1.

6.2 If we accept the claim, clause 3.1 applies. If we consider the claimed result is not lawfully available or not reasonably arguable, we will tell you why in writing, itemising each disputed position. You are always free to instruct any agent you choose; nothing in these terms restricts your rights, including your right to complain to the Tax Practitioners Board or to pursue remedies under the Australian Consumer Law.

6.3 Our records (including our practice-management system, appointment notes and document-receipt timestamps) are conclusive evidence of what information was provided and when, absent manifest error.

6.4 To the maximum extent permitted by law, the remedies in clause 3.1 are your sole and exclusive remedy for a Better Result having been available on a Covered Return, and the liability and indemnity clauses of your engagement letter apply.

7.1 Where your preparation fee was deducted from your ATO refund under our fee-from-refund arrangement, the refund of our fee under clause 3.1(b) is paid to your nominated bank account.

7.2 Where you have not yet paid our fee at the time a claim is accepted, the fee is waived instead of refunded.

8.1 Our services come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or modifies any consumer guarantee, right or remedy you have under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) or any other law that cannot lawfully be excluded. The Guarantee is in addition to those rights and remedies.

9.1 We may amend or withdraw the Guarantee at any time by updating this page. Changes apply prospectively to Covered Returns lodged after the change is published.

9.2 These terms are governed by the laws of Queensland, Australia, and the parties submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of its courts.

9.3 These terms were last updated on 30 August 2026