Folio 2 of 6 · The public register
2Checking the TPB Register
A tax or BAS agent can be looked up on the Tax Practitioners Board’s public register by their name, their ASIC registered business name or their registration number. The entry that comes back says which kind of agent they are, where their registration stands (agents whose registration is suspended are still listed) and whether conditions limit their work.
The register also carries details of certain unregistered people and businesses, and any breaches of the Code of Professional Conduct and sanctions that are on the public record.
General information, not tax advice. The register itself is at tpb.gov.au/public-register, and the TPB’s Help with using the TPB Register page explains every field.
2.1Two ways to search
- Check a named practitionerEnter their legal or registration name, their ASIC registered business name or their registration number. The results can be narrowed by practitioner type, state or territory, suburb and registration status, and the information icon beside a result opens the full entry.
- Search near an addressThe second option finds registered practitioners within a chosen distance of an address, up to 75 km, using a Google geolocation search. The TPB notes that the address has to be picked from the dropdown list, or the results may be inaccurate.
Both searches are described on the TPB’s help page. The registration number is also printed on the registered tax practitioner symbol (below), so it can be searched directly.
2.2Reading an entry
The Tax Agent Services Regulations 2022 set out what the register must record. Read the way a client reads it, an entry answers three questions.
Who is this, and are they registered now?
The entry names the kind of agent (tax or BAS) and whether the registration is held by an individual, a partnership or a company. It gives the status, which can be registered, unregistered, suspended or terminated, the date they were first registered as that kind of agent, and when the current registration expires. A company or partnership entry also names the individuals, with their registration numbers, who carry its supervisory arrangements, and any entry can show a recognised professional association the practitioner has chosen to list.
Is their work limited?
A condition, where there is one, narrows the subject areas in which the practitioner may provide tax agent services, BAS services and tax (financial) advice services included.
Has anything gone wrong?
This part can show orders, suspensions and terminations that applied from 1 July 2022, with the sanctions and the reasons; renewal applications, and some new ones, refused on integrity grounds, with the date and the reason; published investigation outcomes, which stay for at least 5 years and can be appealed; and matters before the Administrative Review Tribunal (which replaced the Administrative Appeals Tribunal on 14 October 2024) or the Federal Court, from applications through to decisions.
Two time limits matter when reading an older entry. Sanctions other than a written caution stay on the register for 5 years from when they take effect, or for as long as they are in force if that is longer, together with the reasons. A practitioner whose registration has been terminated stays on the register for 5 years, with the date, any period in which they may not reapply, and the reasons.
The association detail is worth a second check. The TPB says that information comes from the practitioner and encourages readers to verify it, for example by contacting the association. What those memberships mean is covered in “Accountant” is not a registration.
2.3The symbol, and what to do with it
The TPB developed the Registered tax practitioner symbol so that people can be confident they are using a registered tax practitioner. Only registered practitioners who meet certain eligibility criteria may use it, and it has three elements: a logo, the practitioner’s registration type, and their TPB registration number.
- 1The logo, left blank here: the TPB’s logo is not reproduced.
- 2The registration type: tax agent or BAS agent.
- 3The TPB registration number, which can be searched on the register.
The TPB encourages checking a practitioner’s registration details before starting to use their services, by searching the register for the number shown in the symbol. The register will also show whether there are conditions on the registration or a sanction, such as a suspension.
2.4If they are not on it
The TPB lists the risks of using an unregistered preparer for a tax agent, BAS or tax (financial) advice service:
- they may not be fit and proper, or have the qualifications or experience to provide a competent service;
- if they lodge late, or make a false or misleading statement to the ATO that results in a tax shortfall, the ATO may impose administrative penalties on you;
- the ATO’s safe harbour provisions, which can protect a client of a registered practitioner from some penalties, do not apply when the preparer is unregistered;
- they may not have professional indemnity insurance to compensate you for a loss caused by their act, error or omission.
The TPB also warns about unregistered preparers who lodge returns through their clients’ myGov accounts. It points out that myTax is meant for taxpayers lodging their own return, and that “a registered tax practitioner also does not require access to their client’s myGov account to act on their behalf.”
Anyone advertising or providing these services for a fee while unregistered can be the subject of a complaint to the TPB. How that works is in Complaints about a tax practitioner.
Balance carried down
One entry answers the main questions in turn: which type of agent, whether the registration is current, what conditions limit it, and what sanctions are on the record. An association membership on the entry is the practitioner’s own statement, which the TPB suggests confirming with the association.