Our compliance focus on tax practitioners with significant outstanding personal tax obligations identified a company tax agent with high income tax and business activity statement debts. 

The tax agent admitted to its outstanding tax debts and its failure to address the debts with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

Since we began formal investigation into the agent’s conduct, the tax agent addressed its outstanding tax debts with the ATO. The company paid one third of its total debt and entered into a formal payment arrangement with the ATO for the remaining debt.

The Board Conduct Committee (BCC) found that the company agent had breached Code of Professional Conduct (Code item 2). Considering the prompt action taken by the company and its responses to our notices, the BCC decided to impose the following administrative sanctions:

• a written caution

• an order to continue complying with the payment arrangement entered into with the ATO until the debts are paid off.