The AAT has affirmed a decision of the Tax Practitioners Board to refuse an application for registration as a tax agent.
The Board had rejected the person’s application for registration as a tax agent because it was not satisfied that she met the eligibility requirements for registration under s20-5(1) of the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA). In particular, the Board was not satisfied that she satisfied s20-5(1)(b), which requires the individual to satisfy requirements prescribed by the Tax Agent Services Regulations 2009. These include, but not limited to, requirements relating to “qualifications” and “experience”. The Board was not satisfied the applicant had been engaged in the equivalent of 2 years full-time, relevant experience in the preceding 5 years (reg8, item 201(d) of Div1, Part 2 of Schedule 2). The applicant appealed.
The Tribunal reviewed the matter and said it was not satisfied that the applicant had provided evidence to corroborate her claims as to relevant experience. The Tribunal acknowledged the applicant had a Bachelor of Business degree, but not sufficient experience to meet the required tests.
(Oleshko and Tax Practitioners Board [2016] AATA 237, AAT, Walsh SM, AAT File No: 2015/0572, 8 April 2016.)