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The Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) has terminated the registration of a tax agent and banned them from reapplying for five years after they were found guilty of egregious behaviour, including failing to declare over $16 million in assessable income.
The board investigated after it received a referral from the ATO and found the agent had breached six items of its code of professional conduct and had ceased to meet the tax agent registration requirement that they were a fit and proper person.
The TPB found the tax agent failed to declare over $16 million in assessable income in personal income tax returns lodged with the ATO, which resulted in a tax shortfall of over $7 million and penalties of over $6 million imposed.
The board also discovered the agent had made false statements to the board in their renewal applications and annual declarations as they stated they did not have any outstanding lodgements when the TPB found out they did.
The board found the agent failed to lodge 54 business activity statements and 23 income tax returns by their due date for themselves and related entities.
The TPB also discovered the agent had acted without honesty and integrity by relying on the false or misleading income tax returns they had lodged and the notices of assessment issued by the ATO to reduce their child support obligations.
The tax agent was found to have prepared multiple versions of the income tax returns for themself and their related entities and maintained two or more sets of financial records, with the differing returns containing different amounts of assessable income with diverse versions provided to the ATO and financial institutions.
Along with the tax agent’s registration being terminated and banned from reapplying for five years, the company that the tax agent was the sole director of had its registration discontinued and was also hit with a five-year ban as it ceased to meet the ongoing registration requirement.
Josh Needs
AUTHOR
Josh Needs is a journalist at Accountants Daily and SMSF Adviser, which are the leading sources of news, strategy, and educational content for professionals in the accounting and SMSF sectors.
Josh studied journalism at the University of NSW and previously wrote news, feature articles and video reviews for Unsealed 4x4, a specialist offroad motoring website. Since joining the Momentum Media Team in 2022, Josh has written for Accountants Daily and SMSF Adviser.
You can email Josh on: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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