A tax agent failed to pass on tax refunds promptly to 19 clients relating to the 2017, 2018 and 2019 financial years. The agent also held the refunds in her personal account instead of a trust account. The agent was a member of a recognised professional association which requires members to deal with client monies through a trust account, or the client’s account, and only as instructed by the client.

Our investigations into clients’ complaints confirmed the agent failed to properly communicate receipt of tax refunds to her clients. She remained inaccessible when clients attempted to contact her about their refunds and also failed to properly respond to our enquiries regarding these complaints.

In addition to the above Code of Professional Conduct (Code 3 and 7) breaches, it was found the agent failed to maintain professional indemnity (PI) insurance that met our requirements. Our records noted her PI insurance lapsed on 5 May 2020 and she failed to update the Board of her PI insurance details despite our repeated requests. Maintaining PI insurance that meets our requirements is not only a requirement under the Code (Code 13) but also a registration requirement.

The Board Conduct Committee terminated the tax agent’s registration.