TPB nets 3 tribunal wins against rogue tax agents
The ART has upheld bans against practitioners Shonek Diwakar, Constantine Kambourakis and Ruaidhri Carslake.
Three rogue tax agents will remain banned from practice for the next four years after the TPB’s recent wins in the Administrative Review Tribunal.
The ART rejected appeals from the three agents to stay or suspend the TPB’s sanctions, citing the seriousness of the misconduct, which involved making false and misleading statements, and the need to uphold professional standards.
“These cases recognise the public interest in all tax practitioners acting with honesty, in supporting their clients, preserving professional and ethical standards, and in building community confidence in the integrity of the tax system,” TPB chair Peter de Cure said.
The three decisions included an appeal by Sydney practitioner Shonek Raj Diwakar and two associated company tax agents SNS Diwakar and Tax on the Beach.
The TPB said Diwakar was not fit and proper, and his tax agent-related entities had failed to comply with tax obligations, lacked appropriate professional indemnity insurance coverage and had provided false information to investigators. The ART agreed, siding with the TPB’s decision on 27 December.
This month, the TPB also came out on top against Sydney practitioner Constantine Kambourakis and Queensland practitioner Ruaidhri Carslake.
The TPB banned Kambourakis, who founded boutique firm CKCO Accountants based in Marrickville, after finding he falsified most of his continuing professional education hours and failed to comply with tax laws.
“Mr Kambourakis’ case similarly involved breaches in tax compliance and the making of false statements in his continuing professional education log regarding his compliance with the professional development obligations,” the TPB said.
The TPB banned Carslake for failing to be a fit and proper person. It said his practice, Can Do Accounting Services of Mission Beach in Queensland, also breached the TASA code of conduct.
“The breaches included false declaration and inadequate supervision and control over the tax services provided to clients,” the regulator said.
De Cure said the TPB would take a “firm” approach in addressing serious misconduct that undermined public confidence and brought disrepute to the tax system and the profession.
“This is reinforced by the obligations under the Tax Agent Services (Code of Professional Conduct) Determination 2024,” he said.
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