<strong>Period of Effect:</strong> 18/08/2023 to 18/08/2028<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> 18/08/2023<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(2) - You must comply with the taxation laws in the conduct of your personal affairs</li><li>30-10(8) - You must maintain knowledge and skills relevant to the tax agent services that you provide</li><li>30-10(13) - You must maintain professional indemnity insurance that meets the Board's requirements</li><li>30-10(14) - You must respond to requests and directions from the Board in a timely, responsible and reasonable manner</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></ul><br/><strong>Explanation:</strong> On 29 June 2023, after completing an investigation, the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) decided to terminate the tax agent registration of Isaac Brown (Mr Brown). The TPB found that Mr Brown had engaged in conduct which breached subsections 30-10(1), 30-10(2), 30-10(8), 30-10(13) and 30-10(14) of the Code of Professional Conduct (Code) in the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA). The TPB also determined Mr Brown was no longer eligible for registration, as he had ceased to meet the tax practitioner registration requirements that he:<br>1. Be a fit and proper person<br>2. Meet the relevant experience requirement in respect of registration<br>3. Maintain professional indemnity (PI) insurance that meets the TPB’s requirements<br>4. Has completed continuing professional education (CPE) that meets the TPB’s requirements.<br>The TPB also imposed a period of five years during which Mr Brown is disqualified from making an application for registration.<br>The TPB found that Mr Brown breached subsection 30-10(1) of the Code, when he failed to act honestly and with integrity by:<br>1. Making false and/or misleading statements to the Commissioner of Taxation (Commissioner), by preparing and lodging business activity statements (BAS) for multiple entities:<br>a. without their knowledge or authorisation, including in circumstances where he had used the MyGovID credentials of another registered tax agent<br>and/or<br>b. which reported GST amounts that resulted in tax refund entitlements totalling more than $3.75 million which, following the completion of audits by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), were disallowed by the ATO based on its findings that those entities were not carrying on an enterprise for GST purposes <br>2. Preparing and lodging BAS for entities, in which he nominated his own bank account or the bank account of another individual who was unrelated to those entities for the receipt of resulting tax refunds, and subsequently misappropriated refunds received into his account, without the knowledge or authorisation of the entities<br>3. Fabricating false and misleading engagement letters on behalf of two entities that he provided to the Board, when those entities did not sign and were not aware of those documents<br>4. Failing to ensure the security of confidential taxpayer information, for breaching the OSfA access security obligations by sharing his personal MyGovID credentials with another individual, which allowed unsupervised access to confidential taxpayer information to lodge BAS<br>5. Making a false declaration in his application to the TPB for renewal of his registration that he had completed CPE that meets the TPB’s requirements.<br>The TPB found that Mr Brown breached subsection 30-10(2) of the Code, in that he failed to comply with the taxation laws in the conduct of his personal affairs by:<br>1. In his capacity as director of a company, causing it to fail to lodge its BAS by their due dates<br>2. Failing to comply with the requirement in the TASA to notify the TPB in writing that he had ceased to hold PI insurance that meets the TPB’s requirements.<br>The TPB found that Mr Brown breached subsection 30-10(8) of the Code, in that he failed to maintain knowledge and skills relevant to the tax agent services that he provided, by failing to meet the TPB’s CPE requirements to undertake the minimum number of hours of education required annually by the TPB.<br>The TPB found that Mr Brown breached subsection 30-10(13) of the Code, in that he did not maintain PI insurance that meets the TPB’s requirements since 17 January 2023.<br>The TPB found that Mr Brown breached subsection 30-10(14) of the Code, in that he did not respond to requests from the TPB in a timely, responsible and reasonable manner, by failing to provide adequate or substantive responses to four requests for information that the TPB issued to him for the purpose of its enquiries into his conduct. <br>In addition to these Code breaches, the TPB determined that Mr Brown ceased to meet the tax practitioner registration requirements that he:<br>1. Be a fit and proper person, on the basis of the conduct described above, including that he facilitated the misappropriation of tax refunds that he received through the lodgement of false and misleading BAS for multiple entities without their knowledge or authorisation and for his own financial benefit <br>2. Meet the relevant experience requirement in respect of registration, on the basis that he could not demonstrate that he engaged in two years of full-time relevant experience (or part-time equivalent) during the preceding five years<br>3. Maintain PI insurance and has completed CPE that meets the TPB’s requirements.<br>