New Tax Agent Obligations from 1 July 2025

From 1 July 2025, small tax practices (with 100 or fewer employees) must comply with eight new Code of Professional Conduct obligations issued by the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB).

These additional Code obligations were introduced under the Tax Agent Services (Code of Professional Conduct) Determination 2024 and build on the existing requirements in the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA).

As registered tax agents, Pennywise Accountants is committed to meeting all of our professional and regulatory obligations, including those under TASA and the Code of Professional Conduct as overseen by the TPB.

Our obligations

Pennywise Accountants is required to inform current and prospective tax clients about certain prescribed matters.

TPB Public Register

The TPB maintains a public register of tax agents and BAS agents where you can:

• confirm our registration status; and
• see if there are any conditions or sanctions recorded.

The register also shows certain past breaches of the Code of Professional Conduct. The TPB provides guidance on how to search and use this register on its website.

Making a Complaint

If you have a complaint about a tax agent service or BAS agent service we have provided, you have the right to:

• raise the issue directly with us; and/or
• lodge a complaint with the Tax Practitioners Board using the process described here:
  https://www.tpb.gov.au/complaints

Our responsibilities

As tax agents, we must comply with:

• the Tax Agent Services Act 2009;
• the Code of Professional Conduct; and
• other relevant legislative and professional standards.

This includes obligations to our clients, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and the TPB.

Our clients also have responsibilities, including:

• complying with taxation laws;
• being truthful and complete with the information they provide;
• keeping proper records and providing them when required;
• responding to reasonable requests; and
• meeting due dates we advise, where possible.

Further information about tax agent and client obligations is available on the TPB website in the “Information for clients” factsheet: Information for clients – TPB factsheet

Events affecting our Tax Agents

Tax practitioners must disclose certain serious prescribed events that have occurred since 1 July 2022.

Serious prescribed events for a tax agent include (but are not limited to):

• having registration suspended or terminated by the TPB;
• being an undischarged bankrupt or going into external administration;
• being convicted of a serious taxation offence;
• being convicted of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty;
• serving, or being sentenced to, a term of imprisonment in Australia of 6 months or more; and
• being penalised as a promoter of a tax exploitation scheme.

We are not aware of any such events affecting Pennywise Accountants.

If any serious prescribed event occurs after 1 July 2025, we will be required to disclose the matter within 30 days of the event and will notify affected clients accordingly.

Please contact Pennywise Accountants adviser if you would like to discuss any of these matters further.

Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.