Login
iscover
A former tax agent has lost an appeal to overturn a four year ban relating to unsubstantiated deductions and unpaid tax debts.
Newsletter
ART upholds TPB decision to ban tax agent
16 January 2025
•
12 minute read
You’re out of free articles for this month
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
A former Gold Coast tax agent’s appeal application has been rejected by the new Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) after his registration was terminated by the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB).
The TPB stripped former tax agent Phil Colin of his registration and imposed a four-year ban from reapplying after he was found to have breached five items of the Code of Professional Conduct.
Colin was also found by the TPB to have no longer satisfied the fit and proper person requirements to be registered.
According to an investigation conducted by the TPB, Colin lodged amendments to clients' income returns without their knowledge or permission and claimed unsubstantiated deductions.
Colin committed the actions despite having received repeated warnings from the Tax Office and a TPB sanction outlining he needed to undertake an ethics course.
TPB chair Peter de Cure welcomed the ART’s first TPB decision as it reaffirmed the importance of the public interest in tax practitioners who acted with integrity and complied with professional obligations.
==
==
“Community confidence in the tax profession is paramount and the TPB is committed to protecting the public and ensuring the overall integrity of the tax profession and the tax system,” he said.
“In this instance, Mr Colin did not sufficiently acknowledge the seriousness of the breaches of the Code and taxation laws and there is a strong need to protect the public from this behaviour.”
“The public need to see that appropriate sanctions have been imposed where a tax agent has fallen well short of the appropriate standards of professional and ethical conduct.”
The investigation also found Colin had failed to pay his own tax debts by specified due dates and reported amounts in his income tax returns and business activity statements incorrectly.
In addition to this, Colin’s business, Southern Beaches Accounting, had advertised tax agent services when it was not legally able to provide the service.
The TPB noted Colin had shown “total disregard” for his obligations when he continued to breach the code after being served a TPB sanction.
Colin also misled the TPB in his renewal application by withholding that he was subject to an exclusion decision by the Queensland Building and Construction Commission.
The TPB said Colin was imposed with the exclusion as he made false and misleading statements, as well as posting his services illegally on Gumtree following his registration termination.
De Cure said all tax practitioners who engaged in illegal and dishonest activity would be punished by the TPB.
“Tax practitioners demonstrating a serious and blatant disregard for tax laws jeopardise the good work of honest tax practitioners and put the integrity of the tax profession and system at risk,” he said.
“Where tax practitioners engage in such behaviours, the TPB will take swift action and firm compliance action to support a level playing field and safeguard the public.”
You are not authorised to post comments.
Comments will undergo moderation before they get published.