1. 30-10(1) - You must act honestly and with integrity
2. 20-5(1)(a) Individual has ceased to meet registration requirement that they are a fit and proper person

On 4 August 2022, after completing an investigation, the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) decided to terminate the tax agent registration of Mr Gavin Swan in accordance with subparagraph 60-125(2)(b)(ii) and paragraph 40-5(1)(b) of the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA). The TPB found that Mr Swan had engaged in conduct which involved a breach of the Code of Professional Conduct (Code). The TPB also determined Mr Swan had ceased to meet the tax agent registration requirements under paragraph 20-5(1)(a) of the TASA as he no longer a fit and proper person. The TPB also imposed the maximum period of five years during which Mr Swan is disqualified from making an application for registration in accordance with subsection 40-25(1) of the TASA.

The TPB found that Mr Swan breached the Code when he failed to act honestly and with integrity in his capacity as sole director and supervising tax agent for Absolute Accounting Services Pty Ltd (the Company), by:
1. making false or misleading statements by submitting Income tax returns (ITR), ITR amendments, Excess concessional contributions (ECC) election forms, Business activity statements (BAS), BAS amendments, JobKeeper applications, and Change of Financial Institution Account (FIA) details, on behalf of over 100 taxpayers, to the Commissioner of Taxation (Commissioner) purportedly on behalf of them; when the affected taxpayers did not provide the relevant declarations and authorisations to the Company and did not instruct it to submit the relevant documents to the Commissioner.
2. misappropriating client funds received from clients’ Income Tax (IT) accounts, Integrated Client Accounts (ICA) and Critical Response Accounts (CRA) to the total of over $500,000, as a result of the unauthorised lodgements of those clients’ ITRs, ITR amendments, BAS, BAS amendments, JobKeeper applications, and Change of FIA details with the misappropriated funds being used by himself for his personal and business expenses.

In addition to the Code breach, the TPB determined that Mr Swan ceased to meet the tax practitioner registration requirement under paragraph 20-5(1)(a) of the TASA that he is a fit and proper person, on the basis that:
1. his conduct resulted in multiple serious breaches of the Code as above.
2. he provided false or misleading information to the Commissioner to obtain a significant amount of tax credits on behalf of over 100 taxpayers which he directed to bank accounts that he controls or had access to, so that he could benefit from over $500,000 of clients’ funds to which he was not entitled.
3. his conduct undermines the integrity of the taxation system and the professional standards expected of tax practitioners.
4. his conduct was inexcusable and was of the most egregious kind.
5. the seriousness of this conduct is such that it would pose a significant risk to the integrity of the profession, standards of the industry, the Board, the Commissioner, the clients, and the public if he remained registered.