A Board Conduct Committee investigation into the behaviour of a registered tax agent found they had breached multiple items of the Code of Professional Conduct (Code). 

The agent did not act honestly and with integrity when they failed to declare in their annual declarations and registration renewal that they had a criminal conviction for several taxation offences from 2014. 

In addition, the tax agent did not:

• respond to requests and directions from the Board in a timely, responsible and reasonable manner on numerous occasions when they failed to:

  • comply with an order imposed by the Board to attend a course of education

  • give full and complete answers to the Board in regard to the allegations made against them

• comply with personal tax obligations by failing to:

  • lodge income tax returns (ITRs) by the due dates for four financial years 

  • lodge 47 business activity statements (BAS) by their respective due dates

  • comply with notices issued under the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 to lodge outstanding returns, resulting in a conviction and court order

• account to clients for money received on trust in a timely manner.

Taking into account the number and seriousness of the Code breaches, the Committee decided to terminate the tax agent’s registration. The Committee also prohibited them from reapplying for registration under the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 for a period of three years.