Perth woman sentenced to a year in prison for tax misconduct
An unregistered tax preparer has received a 12-month jail sentence after breaching a permanent injunction ordered by the court.
Perth woman Jessa Dabalos has been sentenced to 12 months in prison for criminality and contempt of court for acting as an unregistered tax preparer, in breach of prior court orders.
In a recent statement, the TBP said Dabalos had prepared and lodged tax returns while not registered with the TPB and provided bad tax advice to hundreds of clients, mostly based in Western Australia.
She was previously fined $230,000 and hit with a permanent injunction to prevent further misconduct. In prior decisions, the court found that she had breached the Tax Agent Services Act 531 times.
Following the sanctions, the court found that Dabalos had continued to act as an unregistered tax preparer on 365 occasions, acting in contempt of the court’s prior decision.
“Having regard to the repeated nature of the contempts … I accept the Board's submissions that Ms Dabalos's conduct was of such seriousness that it can be classified as criminal. It has the tendency to seriously prejudice the public interest in protecting the effective administration of justice,” Justice Banks-Smith said.
The Federal Court noted that the sanctions previously imposed on Dabalos had provided a strong message of deterrence, which she chose to ignore.
“This case is part of a broader strategy to deter unregistered preparers who may exploit their clients and the tax system,” Peter de Cure, chair of the TBP, said.
By providing poor tax advice, unregistered tax preparers could cause significant financial stress for their clients, the TPB said.
“Misconduct by unregistered preparers can involve the exploitation of vulnerable clients. Some unregistered preparers prey on clients who are unfamiliar with the tax system, lodge false returns with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), and expose clients to significant taxes, penalties and financial stress,” de Cure said.
“The TPB’s compliance strategy will identify and address unregistered preparer misconduct to protect the community and support the integrity of the tax profession and the tax system. Unregistered preparers could face injunctions, significant penalties and jail if acting criminally or in contempt.”
The TPB urged taxpayers looking for professional tax advice to engage a tax practitioner registered with the TPB to avoid getting poor advice. Such practitioners can be found through the TPB register.
