Chair of the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB), Mr Ian Taylor, said that today marks the eighth anniversary of the TPB and the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA). 

The TPB commenced operations on 1 March 2010 as an independent statutory body created under the TASA with 26,000 registered tax practitioners, comprised solely of tax agents who were previously registered with the six state tax agents boards.

'Since the TASA and the TPB commenced, Australian tax practitioners have responded well to the challenge of rapidly evolving business practices while continuing to meet their Code of Professional Conduct (Code) obligations,' Mr Taylor said.

During the first eight years of the TASA and the Code:

• the population of registered tax practitioners in Australia has tripled to in excess of 76,800, including over 19,100 tax (financial) advisers who were required to register with the TPB from 1 July 2014

• the TPB has published over 30 policy and guidance publications on its website to assist registered tax practitioners to understand their obligations and comply with the Code

• tax practitioner education has been prioritised with the development of a significant program of webinars and outreach events, with 23 webinars delivered to over 6,500 participants in 2016-17

• more than 11,000 complaints and referrals have been received and addressed by the TPB. Around 70 per cent of these came from the public and most other complaints and referrals were from other registered tax practitioners and the ATO

• significant improvements in compliance have been achieved following the introduction of the annual declaration (AD) process in January 2016. Fit and proper person matters reduced from 109 cases in 2014-15 to 22 in 2016-17, part of this reduction attributable to the introduction of the AD process

• there has been a significant reduction in the number of matters related to unregistered entities providing tax agent services for a fee or other reward, from 168 cases in 2013-14 to 41 in 2016-17.

'The first eight years have shown that most tax practitioners are doing the right thing in complying with the Code and the TASA,' Mr Taylor said.

'We look forward to continuing to assist a growing population of registered tax practitioners as the tax profession continues to evolve in response to changing business practices, technological improvements and globalisation of the tax system.'

Mr Taylor shared these and other insights from a review of the TPB's first eight years at the Australasian Tax Teachers Association Conference at Monash University in January.

About the Tax Practitioners Board:

The Tax Practitioners Board regulates tax practitioners in order to protect consumers. The TPB aims to assure the community that tax practitioners meet appropriate standards of professional and ethical conduct.

Follow us on Twitter @TPB_gov_au and LinkedIn