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A Sydney tax agent who falsified business activity statements to gain access to the cash-flow boost had had his registration terminated by the Tax Practitioners Board.
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Sydney tax agent disqualified over fraudulent cash-flow boost claim
28 September 2021
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William Pugh, acting as the sole director and supervising tax agent of Reveal Wealth Pty Ltd, has been struck off the TPB’s register after an ATO investigation revealed that he had failed to act with integrity in falsifying the March and June quarter BAS on behalf of a client to gain access to the cash flow boost.
The client was a company of which Mr Pugh was a sole director.
The ATO’s investigation found that Mr Pugh falsely reported salary, wage and pay as you go (PAYG) withholding amounts in the two quarters despite the company having never reported PAYG withholding amount over the past three years.
Once alerted to the ATO’s audit, Mr Pugh proceeded to amend five previous BAS to reflect PAYG withholding amounts.
When requested by the ATO, the tax agent was unable to provide substantiation that eligible payments subject to PAYG withholding had in fact been made, with the Tax Office eventually deeming that the company was not entitled to the cash-flow boost payments.
The TPB’s board conduct committee considered that the facts demonstrated a clear intent on the part of Mr Pugh, acting through Reveal Wealth, to enable the client to receive the cash-flow boost payments to which he ought to have known the client was not entitled.
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As a result, the TPB decided to cancel the company tax agent registration and Mr Pugh’s registration. Mr Pugh has also been barred from reapplying for registration for one year.
The TPB’s decision comes after a number of recent tribunal decisions, including a case where a chartered accountant was denied the cash-flow boost after he was found to have drastically increased his wages by over $100,000 in a single week to qualify his company for the maximum cash-flow boost of $50,000.
A franchise skincare and beauty salon was also denied the stimulus payment after the AAT ruled that it had entered into a scheme with the sole purpose of increasing the cash-flow boost payment.
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