Not all doom and gloom for disqualified accountants under the Tax Practitioners Board's new rules

Introduction

Significant changes to the regulation of accountants came into effect on 1 January 2024. You can read our previous article on some of the new rules, which is available here . Key amongst the changes was the introduction of two new Code items [15] and [16] prohibiting accountants from using the services of a "disqualified entity" or providing tax agent services as part of an arrangement with a disqualified entity.

We expect the Tax Practitioners Board (Board) to take a particularly rigid view of what it will and won't find acceptable, it nonetheless has the power to approve certain arrangements in writing.

In this article, we show that with appropriate conditions, the Board's approval power should be exercised often and liberally, thereby permitting otherwise disqualified accountants to continue helping clients (and indirectly the Tax Office) to comply with complex tax and superannuation laws.

New Code items

New sections 30-10(15) and 30-10(16) of the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA) state as follows...

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The full article will be published soon.

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Final observations

These new laws provide disqualified accountants the opportunity to apply to the Board, along with their employer / service provider, for approval to continue to operate and ultimately provide tax agent services. Of course, there will be conditions. However, those conditions do not need to be unnecessarily prohibitive as the case law shows. We will see in due course if the Board apply the rules in the same way.

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How can we help?

HWL Ebsworth Lawyers specialises in professional conduct investigations carried out by the Tax Practitioners Board and the various accounting bodies. We have acted for accountants and their businesses in investigations arising from Australian Taxation Office referrals and client complaints, including allegations of stolen monies, unauthorised tax lodgements and non-compliance with personal tax obligations.

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Please contact one of our team members with any queries, including if you are presently subject to an investigation either before the Board or in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

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This article was written by Vincent Licciardi, Partner, Isabelle Smith, Senior Associate and Aidan Del Socorro, Law Graduate.