Introduction
1. Entities that provide tax agent services for a fee or other reward1 must be registered with the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB).
2. The TPB has prepared this Information sheet (TPB(I)) to assist entities to determine if they are providing a tax agent service and whether they need to register with the TPB.
3. Whether a particular service is a tax agent service is a question of fact. This means each service will need to be considered on a case-by-case basis having regard to the facts and circumstances surrounding the provision of the service.
4. There are significant civil penalties for anyone providing tax agent services for a fee or reward or advertising tax agent services, while unregistered. These include fines of up to $55,500 for individuals, and $275,000 for a body corporate.2
What is a tax agent service?
Legislative background
5. A tax agent service is defined in section 90-5 of the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA) as:
(1) A tax agent service is any service:
(a) that relates to:
(i) ascertaining liabilities, obligations or entitlements of an entity that arise, or could arise, under a taxation law; or
(ii) advising an entity about liabilities, obligations or entitlements of the entity or another entity that arise, or could arise, under a taxation law; or
(iii) representing an entity in their dealings with the Commissioner3; and
(b) that is provided in circumstances where the entity can reasonably be expected to rely on the service for either or both of the following purposes:
(i) to satisfy liabilities or obligations that arise, or could arise, under a taxation law;
(ii) to claim entitlements that arise, or could arise, under a taxation law.
(2) A service specified in the regulations for the purposes of this subsection is not a tax agent service.
Source : tpb.gov.au
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