SHOP 4, 7-9 GRAND PLAZA DR BROWNS PLAINS Queensland 4118
Other records
Expiry date
01/12/2025
Condition
Sanctions
None on record
Appeal
Board decision
CXL Reason
Disqualification
<strong>Period of Effect:</strong> 12/12/2023 to 12/12/2027<br/><strong>Reason:</strong> 40-25 Period during which you may not apply for registration
Suspension
None on record
Termination
<strong>Date of Effect:</strong> 12/12/2023<br/><strong>Reason:</strong> 40-5(1)(b) individual no longer meets registration requirements[POPUP_FOR_DETAILS]<br/><strong>Code breach(es):</strong> <ul><li>30-10(1) - You must act honestly and with integrity</li><li>30-10(7) - You must ensure that a tax agent service that you provide, or that is provided on your behalf, is provided competently</li><li>30-10(9) - You must take reasonable care in ascertaining a client's state of affairs, to the extent that ascertaining the state of those affairs is relevant to a statement you are making or a thing you are doing on behalf of the client</li></ul><br/><strong>Registration requirement not met:</strong> <ul><li>20-5(1)(a) Individual has ceased to meet registration requirement that they are a fit and proper person</li><li>20-5(1)(c) Individual has ceased to meet registration requirement that they maintain professional indemnity insurance that meets the Board's requirements</li></ul><br/><strong>Explanation:</strong> On 24 October 2023, after completing an investigation, the Tax Practitioners Board (the Board) decided to terminate the tax agent registration of Debbie Hiscock. The Board found that Ms Hiscock breached subsections 30-10(1), 30-10(7) and 30-10(9) of the Code of Professional Conduct (the Code) in the TASA.<br>The Board found that Ms Hiscock beached the Code by:<br>1. lodging forms with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to add, and then remove herself and appoint an unrelated third party as a director to a company without the appropriate authority<br>2. failing to make sufficient enquiries to satisfactorily establish proof of identity and proof of record ownership before becoming an entity’s tax agent<br>3. providing tax agent services for two separate entities based on instructions from an unauthorised third party<br>4. preparing and lodging a quarterly business activity statement (BAS) on behalf of a client claiming input tax credits without conducting any checks or obtaining any relevant substantiation, which was subsequently audited by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), and resulting in it determining that it was not carrying on an enterprise, the cancellation of its GST registration and penalties being imposed for intentional disregard of a taxation law<br>5. preparing and lodging income tax returns (ITRs) on behalf of six clients containing research and development (R&D) claims and tax offsets, without conducting any checks or obtaining any relevant substantiation, which were subsequently audited by the ATO and resulted in determinations that they were not entitled to the deductions, resulting in tax shortfalls<br>6. in her capacity as sole director and supervising agent of Down the Line Accounting Pty Ltd (the Company):<br>a. preparing and lodging an ITR on behalf of a client containing R&D claims and tax offset, without conducting any checks or obtaining any relevant substantiation, which were subsequently audited by the ATO and resulted in a determination that they were not entitled to the deduction, resulting in a tax shortfall<br>b. failing to ensure that a tax agent service that the Company provided or that was provided on the Company’s behalf was provided competently in relation to work-related expense (WRE) claims made in the ITRs it lodged for 19 clients resulting in compliance action by the ATO finding the WRE claims did not have sufficient nexus, and/or could not be substantiated, and resulting in tax shortfalls and in some cases, penalties being imposed on the clients.<br>Having regard to the serious and repeated nature of her conduct and the breaches of the Code, the Board determined that Ms Hiscock had ceased to meet the tax practitioner registration requirements that she be a fit and proper person and requiring her to maintain professional indemnity insurance that meets the Board’s requirements.<br>Accordingly, the Board decided to: <br>• terminate Ms Hiscock’s tax agent registration in accordance with subparagraph 60-125(2)(b)(ii) and paragraph 40-5(1)(b) of the TASA; and<br>• impose a period of four years during which Ms Hiscock is prohibited from re-applying for registration, from the date the termination of her registration takes effect, in accordance with subsection 40-25(1) of the TASA. <br><br>