About the Tax Practitioners Board
Tax Practitioners Board Overview
The Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) is a national body responsible for the registration and regulation of tax agents, BAS agents and tax (financial) advisers (collectively referred to as 'tax practitioners'). The TPB is also responsible for ensuring compliance with the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA), including the Code of Professional Conduct (Code).
This is achieved by:
- administering a system to register tax practitioners, ensuring they have the necessary competence and personal attributes
- providing guidelines and information on relevant matters
- investigating conduct that may breach the TASA, including non-compliance with the Code, and breaches of the civil penalty provisions
- imposing administrative sanctions for non-compliance with the Code
- applying to the Federal Court in relation to contraventions of the civil penalty provisions in the TASA.
The TPB consists of a Board and Chair appointed by the Treasurer and staff made available by the Commissioner of Taxation.
Tax Practitioners Board organisational structure
Annual report and Corporate Plan
Tax Practitioner Service Charter
Government’s Statement of Expectations
Regulator Performance Framework
Cost Recovery Implementation Statement
Tax Practitioners Board organisational structure
Chair
The Chair is responsible for leadership of the Board in providing direction and oversight of the TPB, including strategy, performance, stakeholder engagement and finances.
Board
The Board is responsible for the overall governance and strategic direction of the organisation and for delivering accountable corporate performance in accordance with the TASA and the TPB's Corporate Plan.
Board members are appointed in their professional and personal capacities and have diverse backgrounds including in tax agent services, the bookkeeping industry, financial services, law and academia.
Secretary/Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
The Secretary CEO is the head of the TPB team and manages the day to day operations of the organisation, its people and resources. The Secretary CEO implements the strategy approved by the Board.
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Tax Practitioners Board |
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Chair and Board members The Chair and other Board members are responsible for the strategic direction and the general administration of the TASA. |
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All TPB Staff |
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| All TPB staff are made available by the Commissioner of Taxation to assist the TPB perform its functions. | |
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Secretary CEO The Secretary CEO is responsible for managing TPB operations and resources. |
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Client Services |
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| Investigations & Enforcement | Ensure registered tax practitioners comply with the TASA (including the Code) through data-driven risk profiling and risk-based compliance activities. Maintain integrity of the TASA through enforcement activity against unregistered service providers. |
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Legal Unit |
Provide legal advice and support to the TPB, including litigation and information management. |
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Information Technology |
Manage, develop and enhance the TPB’s digital services including desktop infrastructure, business systems and website. |
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Corporate Services |
Implement corporate strategy and direction, manage governance and operational reporting. Responsible for developing and implementing the TPB's communication strategies. |
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Policy and Legislation |
Responsible for the TPB's legislative and policy work program, including developing guidance for tax practitioners and managing relationships with external stakeholders. |
Annual Report and Corporate Plan
Our Annual Report details our operations and achievements in relation to the tax agent services regime.
The Corporate Plan sets out our strategic direction and reflects our purpose, goals and priorities.
For further information refer to Annual Report and Corporate Plan
Tax Practitioner Service Charter
The Tax Practitioner Service Charter (Charter) sets out what tax practitioners can expect from their dealings with the TPB. The Charter also explains their rights and responsibilities and what they can do if they are not satisfied with the service they receive from the TPB.
Statement of Expectations
The Government's Statement of Expectations for the TPB outlines the expectations about the role and responsibilities of the TPB, its relationship with the Government, issues of transparency and accountability and operational matters.
A copy of the Statement of Expectations for the TPB is available from The Treasury website.
The TPB has responded with a Statement of Intent which is available from The Treasury website.
Regulator Performance Framework
The Regulator Performance Framework (RPF) commenced on 1 July 2015 as part of the Government’s commitment to reducing unnecessary and inefficient regulation.
The Framework assesses one aspect of regulatory performance, concerning the administration of regulation, with regulators to report on performance against six outcomes-based key performance indicators (KPIs). These KPIs cover a range of issues, including communication, risk-based and proportionate approaches, transparency, reducing regulatory burden, and continuous improvement.
The following metrics were approved by the Assistant Treasurer in June 2015 and will be used by the TPB in an annual self-assessment of performance against the Framework.
- TPB RPF report 2017-18 (PDF, 156 KB)
- TPB RPF report 2016-17 ( PDF, 673KB)
- TPB RPF report 2015-16 (PDF, 256 KB)
Further information on the Framework is available on the Cutting Red Tape website.
Cost Recovery Implementation Statement
The Cost Recovery Implementation Statement (PDF, 357 KB) provides information on how the TPB will implement partial cost recovery for the processing of registration and renewal applications of tax practitioners.
Last modified: 8 May 2019
