TPB focuses on higher-risk practitioners
The Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) has reported a positive response to its compliance strategy, which was announced in December last year, with over two thousand tax practitioners updating their tax affairs since that time.
Secretary and chief executive of the TPB, Michael O’Neill, said while most tax practitioners recognise the important of complying with the law and maintaining ethical standards, the Board remained concerned about some practitioners who failed to meet their own tax obligations and participated in high-risk behaviours.
“We’re now focused on those higher-risk practitioners who’ve failed to comply with over 1200 lodgement cases and others with $90 million in outstanding debts to the ATO,” he said.
Such ‘high-risk practitioners’ are those who inflate work related expenses, support the black economy, or who are involved in deliberate fraud and evasion activity, according to the CEO.
“We will also investigate unregistered service providers and bring matters before the courts.”
The TPB flagged it would initiate around 30 investigations in an effort to sanction those practitioners who fail to comply with their legal and ethical responsibilities.
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