At the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB), we’re continuously looking at ways to enhance our support to consumers impacted by the services of high-risk tax practitioners and unregistered preparers. By doing so, we also increase the public trust in the integrity of the tax profession and the tax system.

A high-risk tax practitioner is a tax practitioner that is reckless when providing tax services to clients. They can be both the unknowing accomplice to illegal behaviour, or wilfully blind to their illegal conduct. To find out more about high-risk tax practitioners, their behaviours and how we identify them, see Compliance matters and our Gary Turner media release. 

Anyone providing tax services for a fee must be registered with the TPB. An unregistered preparer offers these services illegally. They are often unqualified and many may just be scammers taking advantage of vulnerable taxpayers, putting clients’ personal and financial affairs at risk. To find out more about the risks of unregistered preparers and how we identify them, refer to our Unregistered preparers strategy. 

Client Support Program

Our Client Support Program (CSP) aims to assist and support affected clients of high-risk tax practitioners subject to serious disciplinary action by the TPB, including suspension or termination of their registration.  

Under this program, we will contact affected clients directly to notify them about the disciplinary action taken on their tax practitioner and provide advice about the steps they can take.  The benefits of the CSP program include:

• more timely and effective engagement with impacted clients, of high-risk tax practitioners subject to TPB investigation/sanction
• improved support to impacted clients in addressing their tax affairs which may be adversely affected by tax practitioner sanctions
• guidance to impacted clients if they decide to engage another registered tax practitioner with referral to the TPB Register 
• managing risk to impacted clients arising from unregistered preparers 
• improving the level playing field for tax practitioners, recognising that the majority of the profession act ethically and legally.