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The Tax Practitioners Board has terminated a fourth tax agent over SMSF auditor number misuse after the ATO found they had made false and misleading statements in various annual returns.
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TPB terminates 4th tax agent for SAN misuse
28 October 2020
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In an online update, the ATO stated that following a referral in relation to identified SMSF auditor number misuse, the Tax Practitioners Board has decided to terminate the registration of a fourth tax agent.
The agent provided the ATO with documents relating to annual returns and SMSF independent auditor’s reports for two of her SMSF clients for the 2013 year, which indicated that she had audited and completed reports for those SMSFs.
The agent also stated to the ATO that she believed she was able to audit those SMSFs in her role as a member of a recognised professional association.
However, no audit was found to have been completed, with the agent falsely declaring it had been audited by another auditor.
According to the TPB, the agent was also aware that at that time that she was not an approved SMSF auditor and therefore was not lawfully permitted to conduct SMSF audits.
“The agent’s behaviour was uncovered after an auditor reviewed their client lists from multiple years and noticed funds listed that they had not audited. This auditor then got in contact with us and we were able to take appropriate action,” the ATO stated.
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“The agent will not be able to apply for registration for two years. Penalties will apply if they continue to provide tax agent services.”
The ATO said this is the fourth agent who have now had their registration terminated for SAN misuse. A further three have had their registration suspended.
“This serves as a reminder for all auditors to carefully check their client list, as they may also notice funds that they have not audited. Auditors who notice any funds they have not audited can then email us at
“We take these matters very seriously and will continue to take action whenever we identify individuals doing the wrong thing.”
The ATO recently completed its SAN misuse mailout for the 2019 income year and is encouraging SMSF auditors to check the list of clients that used their auditor number.
Back in July, the Tax Office reported that it had referred 18 tax agents to the Tax Practitioners Board in 2019–20 for the misuse of SMSF auditor numbers, and also identified some more serious cases involving forged audit reports.
ATO SMSF auditor portfolio director Kellie Grant previously said that she hopes the TPB outcomes serve as a deterrent for other tax agents who look to deliberately misreport a SAN.
“In addition to those agents we referred to the TPB, since 1 July last year, we’ve also referred a few to our prosecutions area and that’s where the SAN misuse was considered quite serious because the agent either obtained audit fees from clients and didn’t end up arranging those audits, or it actually went as far as forging the audit report,” she stated.
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