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The agent falsified statements to support the inappropriate applications for grants.
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TPB bans tax agent for five years over fraudulent grants
21 February 2023
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The Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) has terminated a tax agent’s registration and banned them from reapplying for five years for dishonestly securing COVID-19 payments for businesses.
The board found the tax agent had lodged 27 applications on behalf of their clients with a state government for payments from a fund that provided grants to support small businesses suffering from the impacts of COVID-19.
To support the applications for the grants the agent provided falsified business activity statements that did not match the ATO’s records.
When the payments were approved, the TPB found the agent received them into the bank account of a related company and failed to pass on large portions of the grant payments to the clients at all, or in the few cases they did it was only after significant delays.
Further investigations also found that the tax agent looked to claim fraudulent payments from the federal government.
The agent lodged false business activity statements for two clients to claim the Australian government’s cash flow boost payments which neither was entitled to.
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The TPB’s inquiry also determined that the tax agent had not maintained appropriate professional indemnity insurance which met its requirements for three months prior to the investigation.
As a result of their actions the TPB’s Board Conduct Committee (BCC) determined the agent had breached the Code of Professional Conduct.
The BCC established that the tax agent had ceased to be a fit and proper person to remain registered and terminated the agent’s registration as well as banning them from reapplying for registration for the maximum period of five years.
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