PRIVACY COLLECTION NOTICE

1. Who is collecting your information?

AIM S AUSTRALIA PTY. LTD. (ABN 21 159 602 276, ACN 159 602 276), carrying on business under the registered business names AIM S Australia and AIMS Australia Tax Accountants, is the entity collecting the personal information described in this notice. Privacy contact: info@aimsaustralia.com.au | 1300 11 24 67 | Level 30, 35 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000.

This notice is intended to meet the notification requirements of APP 5 where APP 5 applies. AIMS also uses it as a standard transparency notice for relevant collections without representing that APP 5 necessarily applies to every collection. It does not reduce any TFN, tax-practitioner confidentiality or other legal or professional obligation and does not itself form part of an engagement contract unless expressly incorporated.

2. When this notice applies

This notice applies when AIMS collects personal information for a preliminary enquiry, client onboarding, proof of identity or authority, tax agent service, related professional service, payment/administration, complaint, security investigation, quality management or other lawful practice purpose. It supplements the Privacy Policy and is intended to be provided at or before collection, or as soon as practicable afterwards where required.

3. Information we may collect

Depending on the matter, AIMS may collect identity and contact information; date of birth; TFN, ABN and other government-related identifiers where lawfully required; residency, travel and family information; income, asset, liability, property, business, employment, investment and transaction information; bank/payment details needed for administration; tax returns, assessments, ATO correspondence and account information; foreign-tax information; records relevant to deductions, CGT, employee share schemes, superannuation, rental property or disputes; digital/security metadata; and information about representatives, related entities or other persons relevant to an accepted or proposed engagement.

AIMS seeks to collect only information reasonably necessary for its functions and the proposed or accepted service. Sensitive information is collected only where reasonably necessary and lawfully permitted, including where consent or another legal basis is required.

4. How and from whom we collect information

AIMS may collect information directly from you; through Seamlss, email, telephone, secure file transfer or forms; from your authorised representative; from the ATO or another government body under authority or law; from a predecessor adviser or specialist with appropriate authority; from public registers; and from third parties or data sources relevant to the professional service. If information is collected from another source or in circumstances you may not reasonably expect, AIMS will take the notification steps required in the circumstances.

5. Why we collect, use and hold information

• assess whether AIMS can accept or continue an enquiry or engagement, including conflicts, competence, professional-indemnity, authority, identity, integrity, security and regulatory service-boundary checks;
• provide, document and quality-control Australian tax agent and related professional services within the accepted scope;
• prepare calculations, returns, schedules, advice, objections, submissions, ruling applications or correspondence within scope;
• communicate with you, the ATO and authorised third parties, obtain approvals/declarations and manage fees and administration;
• comply with taxation, TASA/TPB, professional, privacy, TFN, security, sanctions, court/tribunal and other legal obligations;
• maintain proper professional records, manage complaints/claims, meet insurance and quality-management requirements and protect legal rights; and
• protect AIMS, clients and systems against fraud, impersonation, cyber incidents and misuse.

6. Collection required or authorised by law

Some information is collected because taxation laws, the Tax Agent Services framework, ATO procedures, professional standards or another law require or authorise AIMS to obtain, verify, use or retain it. For example, AIMS may require information to establish identity and authority, prepare a correct tax document, keep proper client records or respond lawfully to a regulator. Where collection relies on consent, AIMS will request consent in an appropriate form.

7. What happens if information is not provided?

If required or reasonably necessary information is not provided, AIMS may be unable to assess the matter, verify identity/authority, provide reliable advice, substantiate a claim, prepare or lodge a document, meet a deadline or accept/continue the engagement. AIMS may need to qualify advice, request further evidence, decline a position, suspend work or terminate the engagement.

8. TFNs and government-related identifiers

AIMS collects and uses TFNs and other government-related identifiers only where lawfully required or authorised. TFN information is handled consistently with the Privacy (Tax File Number) Rule 2015 and is not adopted as AIMS’ own general-purpose client identifier.

9. Usual disclosures and tax-practitioner confidentiality

Depending on the engagement and lawful authority, information may be disclosed to the ATO or another government body; approved technology/cloud providers; authorised AIMS personnel; insurers, professional bodies or quality reviewers where lawfully and professionally permitted; lawyers or other specialists with appropriate authority; payment/service providers needed for administration; and courts, tribunals, law-enforcement bodies or regulators where legally required or authorised.

Tax-practitioner confidentiality is a separate obligation. Unless AIMS has the client’s permission or a legal duty to disclose, information relating to a client’s affairs is not disclosed to a third party. Where client permission is required for technology/cloud-provider disclosure, AIMS obtains it through the Engagement Letter or another specific written authority before the relevant disclosure. This Collection Notice itself is not relied upon as that permission.

Under AIMS’ standard AI policy, identifiable or reasonably re-identifiable client-affairs information is not disclosed to a general-purpose AI service. AI-assisted general professional support is limited to public information or appropriately de-identified and minimised material, subject to AIMS’ confidentiality and professional-quality controls.

10. Technology providers and overseas processing

The Technology, Cloud and Provider Schedule identifies the principal providers used for onboarding/identity functions, tax preparation/lodgment, document storage and business communications. Depending on the provider and account configuration, information may be stored, routed, backed up, accessed or supported in Australia and/or overseas. The Provider Schedule identifies reasonably ascertainable countries or regions and any account-specific uncertainty that is material to the disclosure.

Under AIMS’ standard workflow, identifiable or reasonably re-identifiable client-affairs information is not submitted to a general-purpose AI service. Before any client-derived material is used with such a service, AIMS takes reasonable steps to remove, mask or generalise identifiers and to minimise the information so that the provider cannot reasonably associate it with a client or another individual. This includes, as applicable, names, TFNs, ABNs, dates of birth, addresses, contact details, bank details, identity documents, account or reference numbers, signatures, login credentials, property addresses and combinations of facts reasonably capable of re-identification.

De-identification does not displace Code item 6 or any other confidentiality obligation. If material could still reasonably reveal or be linked to a client’s affairs, it must not be submitted to a general-purpose AI service. AIMS’ standard policy does not provide a client-specific authorisation pathway that permits identifiable client-affairs information to be submitted to a general-purpose AI service.

11. Identity verification

AIMS may verify identity and authority using approved digital or manual methods and third-party verification services. AIMS generally records sufficient contemporaneous details of the checks undertaken and seeks to avoid unnecessary long-term retention of identity-document copies unless reasonably required by law, professional standards, provider constraints or the risk of the engagement.

12. Security, retention and data breaches

AIMS applies access, authentication, secure-channel, provider-governance, backup/availability and incident-response controls proportionate to the information and risk. Records are retained for periods required or reasonably justified by taxation law, TPB requirements, proof-of-identity requirements, professional standards, insurance, disputes and other lawful purposes, then securely destroyed or de-identified where appropriate.

AIMS assesses suspected data breaches and makes notifications required by the Privacy Act 1988, the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme or another applicable legal/professional obligation where those requirements apply.

13. Access, correction and complaints

You may request access to or correction of personal information AIMS holds, subject to applicable exceptions. Privacy enquiries or complaints may be sent to the Privacy Officer at info@aimsaustralia.com.au. Further information appears in the Privacy Policy. If an APP privacy complaint is not resolved and the Privacy Act gives you a right to complain to the OAIC, that right is preserved.

14. Service communications and direct marketing

AIMS may use contact information for engagement, service, regulatory and security communications and, where permitted by law, for limited information about AIMS services. Commercial electronic messages are managed consistently with applicable requirements, including the Spam Act 2003 where it applies, and include an appropriate sender identification and unsubscribe mechanism. AIMS does not use a client’s TFN, identity-document information or substantive tax records for marketing profiling.

15. Related documents and acknowledgement

• Privacy Policy
• Technology, Cloud and Provider Schedule
• Professional and Regulatory Information
• Terms of Engagement
• Client-specific Engagement Letter

By providing information after this notice has been made available, you acknowledge receipt or availability of the notice. That acknowledgement is not a waiver of privacy rights and is not treated as consent or tax-practitioner client permission where a separate consent or permission is legally or professionally required.

This Notice is current as at 7 September 2026 and is subject to controlled version management.

AIM S AUSTRALIA PTY. LTD.