A company had their tax agent registration terminated after investigations revealed they breached 4 items of the Code of Professional Conduct (Code). Our investigations revealed the company breached:

• Code item 1 when the company and its director had substantial outstanding tax debts and made false statements in their renewal application.

• Code item 2 when it failed to lodge 2 business activity statements and 4 instalment activity statements on time and failed to pay, or make arrangements to pay, further significant tax debts.

• Code item 5 when it didn’t have adequate arrangements in place to manage a conflict of interest that arose.

• Code items 5 and 6 when it accessed the tax records of a former company client. They did this at the request of another client who was involved in litigation against that company. They also disclosed confidential information about the former company client to the individual client.

Outcome

The Board Conduct Committee considered the serious nature of the company’s conduct and found the company’s director was no longer a fit and proper person. The company’s tax agent registration was terminated.