Kishore and Tax Practitioners Board

This matter concerned an appeal by Mr Kishore against a decision by the Tax Practitioners Board to terminate his registration as a tax agent. The dispute centred on whether Mr Kishore's conduct, as established in five judgments of the NSW Supreme Court, constituted a breach of the Code of Professional Conduct. Mr Kishore conceded that he had made admissions regarding most of the conduct complained of by the plaintiff in the Supreme Court proceedings.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether the conduct identified by the Board qualified as a "tax agent service" under the relevant legislation, and if not, whether such conduct could still amount to a breach of the Code of Professional Conduct. Additionally, the court was required to consider whether the Board's power had been properly delegated and if a committee of the Board had acted with appropriate delegation. These were considered threshold questions for the Tribunal.

The court rejected Mr Kishore's submission that the Board should be confined to relying only on the specific wording of the notification letter or the Statement of Issues, Facts and Contentions. The court found that the notification letter, when read in its entirety, clearly indicated the breadth and specificity of the Board's concerns, which were grounded in the findings of the Supreme Court. The court determined that the Board was entitled to rely on the totality of Mr Kishore's conduct as described and characterised in the Supreme Court judgments.