In a decision handed down Fri 14.9.2012, the AAT has affirmed a decision of the Tax Practitioners Board to terminate the applicant’s registration as a tax agent and declare that he could not apply for registration as a tax agent or BAS Agent for a period of 3 years.
The AAT said that in February 2012, the Tax Practitioners Board conducted an investigation into the applicant following a complaint by a taxpayer. The allegations against the applicant, which were found proven on the balance of probabilities, were that the applicant had breached various provisions of the Code of Professional Conduct in that he:
(i) did not act honestly and with integrity;
(ii) did not ensure that a tax agent service provided by him was provided competently;
(iii) did not maintain knowledge and skills relevant to the tax agent services provided by him; and
(iv) did not take reasonable care in ascertaining a client’s state of affairs. As a result of its finding that the breaches of the Code of Professional Conduct were proved, the Board also determined that the applicant was not a fit and proper person to prepare tax returns.
The AAT said the essential facts were not challenged by the Applicant and included that the Applicant:
- was approached by 6 third-party agents and lodged tax returns in respect of 346 tax file numbers on the basis of representations made by those agents;
- did not ask for proof of identification of any of the 6 third-party agents;
- received up-front cash payments in respect of the 346 tax returns;
- took no steps to verify the accuracy of the documentation prior to lodging the 346 tax file numbers.
The Applicant argued that his deregistration and a 3-year ban on reapplying to be a tax agent were manifestly excessive.
The AAT disagreed and upheld the Board’s decision.
(AAT Case [2012] AATA 615, Re Nei Tung and Tax Practitioners Board, Allen SM, AAT Ref: 2012/3159, 14 September 2012.)
[LTN 179, 14/9]