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The Tax Practitioners Board has sent a warning to tax agents to comply with their personal tax obligations following recent termination decisions upheld by the tribunal.
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‘Lead the way’: TPB sounds warning over blatant disregard of personal tax affairs
25 August 2021
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9 minute read
TPB chair Ian Klug said two recent cases before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal had reflected the seriousness of tax agents failing to pay attention to their own tax affairs, warning that the regulator would take a dim view of such issues.
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In both cases, the tribunal upheld the TPB’s decision to terminate the two tax agents, after finding that such infractions were unbecoming of a tax practitioner.
In July, Gosford tax agent Grant Tomkinson was banned for at least 18 months after he was found to have failed to lodge two income tax returns, 27 business activity statements (BAS) and 12 BAS in his capacity as trustee of the WT Martin & Associates Staff Super Fund.
He was also found to have failed to pay his employees’ superannuation for six quarters, and had incurred a superannuation guarantee charge debt of $64,753.
Separately, Brisbane-based tax agent Grant McCarthy saw his registration terminated and barred from reapplying for at least two years after racking up personal tax debts of over $860,000 by the time of his hearing before the AAT.
Despite entering into payment arrangements with the ATO, Mr McCarthy defaulted on them and argued that they were conditional on his registration being reinstated by the TPB.
“These decisions clearly demonstrate that a failure to attend to your tax affairs can call into question if a registered tax practitioner continues to show the right attributes, such as honesty and integrity, to be registered as a tax practitioner,” said Mr Klug.
“Registered tax practitioners are not only entrusted to manage the tax affairs of their clients, but they are also taxpayers in their own right. It is important they lead the way by ensuring they comply with their tax obligations in line with both community expectations and tax laws.
“Both McCarthy and Tomkinson showed cavalier behaviour in their pattern of conduct in respect to paying assessments on time and fulfilling their tax obligations. In doing so, they failed to realise the severity of their actions.”
The TPB’s latest warning comes as it looks to consult on new sanction powers as part of its corporate plan for the year ahead.
It has also signalled a renewed approach to working with fellow regulators, including the ATO, to use data-driven strategies to target high-risk practitioners and unregistered preparers.
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