Middlebrook and Tax Practitioners Board

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered the appeal of a tax agent whose registration had been terminated by the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB). The dispute centred on whether the TPB's decision to terminate the agent's registration and prohibit them from reapplying for a period of five years was appropriate, given the applicant's conduct.

The Tribunal was required to determine if the applicant was a fit and proper person to be registered as a tax agent, and consequently, whether the TPB's disciplinary action, specifically the termination of registration and the period of prohibition from reapplication, was the correct and preferable course of action.

Deputy President McCabe P affirmed the TPB's decision to cancel the applicant's registration, finding that the applicant's misconduct and breaches of the Code of Professional Conduct meant they were not a fit and proper person. However, the Tribunal varied the period of prohibition from reapplying for registration, reducing it from five years to four years, concluding that this revised period was the appropriate regulatory response.