Following an investigation, we terminated a tax agent's registration. We found the agent engaged in conduct which breached multiple items of the Code of Professional Conduct (Code), including:

• Code item 1 (you must act honestly and with integrity) when they were convicted in the Melbourne Magistrates Court for making false documents, including false payslips and electronic lodgement declarations

• Code item 2 when they failed to comply with the tax laws in the conduct of their personal affairs. The agent did not lodge income tax returns or business activity statements for the 2018 to 2021 income tax years by their respective due dates

• Code item 6 when they disclosed clients’ information to a third party without the clients' permission

• Code item 13 when they failed to maintain professional indemnity insurance that meets our requirements.

In addition to these Code breaches, we found that the agent ceased to be a fit and proper person to be registered, due to:

• pleading guilty to, and being convicted of, an offence involving fraud and dishonesty, being 15 counts of making false documents

• causing victims unnecessary stress, and to expend undue time and resources in liaising with Police, financial institutions, telecommunications companies and the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB)

• demonstrating a pattern of behaviour of failing to comply with tax laws in relation to their individual tax affairs

• their conduct undermining the integrity of the tax system and the professional standards expected of tax practitioners

• the serious nature of the misconduct such that the TPB, the Commissioner of Taxation, clients and the public could not have confidence that they would perform the functions of a registered tax practitioner with integrity.

Outcome

Prior to making its decision regarding the appropriate sanctions to impose, the Board Conduct Committee (BCC) refused to accept the agent’s request to surrender their registration, considering it inappropriate to do so in the circumstances. This was due to the agent already being served with a notice of investigation and the seriousness of the allegations that involved a fraud related conviction.

In deciding the appropriate sanctions to impose on the agent, the BCC considered the serious, deliberate and repeated nature of the conduct. It was determined that the agent demonstrated a lack of integrity and disregard for their professional and ethical obligations under the Code and tax laws. Therefore, the BCC terminated the agent’s registration and imposed the maximum period of five years during which the agent is prohibited from making an application for registration.