Breach self-reporting

• Section 30-35 of the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA) requires that a registered tax practitioner must notify the TPB in writing if the tax practitioner has reasonable grounds to believe that they have breached the Code and that the breach is a significant breach.
• Notification must be given within 30 days of the day on which the registered tax practitioner first has, or ought to have, reasonable grounds to believe that they have breached the Code and that the breach is a significant breach. 

What is a ‘significant breach'?

• Subsection 90-1(1) of the TASA defines a ‘significant breach of the Code’ as a breach that:

  a.     constitutes an indictable offence, or an offence involving dishonesty, under an Australian law

  b.     results, or is likely to result, in material loss or damage to another entity (including the Commonwealth)

  c.     is otherwise significant, including taking into account any one or more of the following:

  • the number or frequency of similar breaches by the agent
  • the impact of the breach on the agent’s ability to provide tax agent services
  • the extent to which the breach indicates that the agent’s arrangements to ensure compliance with the Code are inadequate, or

  
  d.     is a breach of a kind prescribed by the regulations.