The Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) says registered tax and BAS agents who fail to meet their personal tax obligations are breaching the Code of Professional Conduct (Code item 2) contained in the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA). The TPB says in the last 12 months, it has completed around 100 investigations of registered tax and BAS agents who had failed to lodge their personal income tax returns or BASs. The investigations resulted in 16 agents’ registrations being terminated, 5 applications for registration renewal being rejected, and 59 formal written cautions issued. The Board plans to continue investigating tax and BAS agents who have failed to lodge their personal income tax returns or BASs. It will also investigate where an agent has an outstanding tax bill and has not come to an arrangement with the Tax Commissioner to pay amounts owing.
TASA legislation changes – The Board reminded tax and BAS agents of recent legislative amendments to the TASA which took effect from 30 June 2013. The key changes affect the eligibility criteria for tax and BAS agents to register or renew their registration with the TPB, requirement to notify of a change in contact details and the definition of a BAS service.
[LTN 129, 8/7/13]