TPB Code of Professional Conduct: obligations and penalties
The TPB Code of Professional Conduct is the 17-item rulebook in the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 that every registered tax and BAS agent must follow. Since 2025 it includes 8 extra obligations from the 2024 Code Determination. From 1 October 2026, a breach can also bring a Federal Court civil penalty.
This guide is for registered tax agents, business activity statement (BAS) agents and the people who run compliance in their practices. It sets out what the Code requires, how the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) enforces it and what a breach now costs.
What is the TPB Code of Professional Conduct?
The Code is section 30-10 of the Tax Agent Services Act 2009. It applies to every registered tax agent and BAS agent, whether an individual, a partnership or a company.
Its 17 items sit in five categories:
- Honesty and integrity: act honestly, comply with the tax laws in your own affairs, and account for client money you hold on trust.
- Independence: act lawfully in your client’s best interests, and have adequate arrangements to manage conflicts of interest.
- Confidentiality: do not give a client’s information to a third party without their permission, unless you have a legal duty to.
- Competence: provide services competently, keep your knowledge and skills current, and take reasonable care with the facts and the law.
- Other responsibilities: do not obstruct the tax laws, advise clients of their rights and obligations, hold indemnity insurance, respond to the TPB and avoid disqualified entities.
Item 17 links the Code to newer rules. You must comply with any obligations the Minister determines under section 30-12.
What did the 2024 Determination add?
The Tax Agent Services (Code of Professional Conduct) Determination 2024 was registered on 2 July 2024. It adds 8 obligations under Code item 17, and was amended twice before it applied.
| New obligation | Code category |
|---|---|
| Uphold and promote the ethical standards of the tax profession | Honesty and integrity |
| Deal with false or misleading statements | Honesty and integrity |
| Manage conflicts of interest in work for government | Independence |
| Keep dealings with government confidential | Confidentiality |
| Keep proper client records | Competence |
| Make sure services provided on your behalf are competent | Competence |
| Run a quality management system | Other responsibilities |
| Keep your clients informed | Other responsibilities |
The TPB treats a breach of the Determination and the matching breach of item 17 as one breach when it decides a sanction.
Key point
Under Australia’s Tax Agent Services Act 2009, every registered tax and BAS agent must also meet the 8 obligations in the 2024 Code Determination.
When did the new obligations start?
From the 2024 Determination to civil penalties
Key dates for registered tax and BAS agents
- 2 July 2024
Determination registered
Adds 8 obligations under Code item 17. Amended in September and October 2024.
- 31 July 2024
Headcount date
Your number of employees on this day sets your start date.
- 1 January 2025
Larger practices start
Practices with more than 100 employees.
- 1 July 2025
Smaller practices start
Practices with 100 or fewer employees.
- 1 October 2026
Breaches carry a civil penalty
Failing to comply with the Code becomes a civil penalty provision, section 50-31.
Sources: TPB, The Code Determination: background and context; TPB, Code of Professional Conduct; Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (s 50-31) Reviewed
The start date depends on how many employees your practice had on 31 July 2024. The government deferred it from the original date of 1 August 2024.
Practices with 100 or fewer employees on that day started on 1 July 2025. Every other practice started on 1 January 2025. The count covers employees only, not contractors.
If you move between a large and a small practice, your start date follows the new practice. Both dates have passed, so every registered practitioner must now comply.
What must you do about a false or misleading statement?
After a false or misleading statement: what you must do
| Situation | What you must do |
|---|---|
| You made the statement, not for a client | Take reasonable steps to have it corrected |
| You made or prepared it for a client | Advise the client that it should be corrected, and of the consequences of not correcting it |
| The client has not corrected or explained it after a reasonable time, and it came from recklessness or intentional disregard | Withdraw from the engagement and stop providing tax agent services to the client |
| As above, and the client’s actions may cause substantial harm to others, such as investors, creditors or employees | Notify the TPB or the ATO that your advice to correct the statement was not acted on |
Sources: TPB, Code obligations when making or preparing statements; Tax Agent Services (Code of Professional Conduct) Determination 2024 (s 15) Reviewed
Section 15 of the Determination covers statements to the TPB, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) or another government agency. You must not make or prepare one you know, or ought reasonably to know, is false or misleading in a material particular.
That includes a misleading omission. A particular is material when it is significant and a decision maker would take it into account.
If you later have reasonable grounds to believe an earlier statement was wrong, the table above sets out your next step. It depends on who made the statement and why it was wrong.
Withdrawing and notifying apply only where the error came from recklessness or intentional disregard of a tax law. Neither applies where it would be unlawful or put someone’s safety at unreasonable risk.
You notify the TPB through the Agent Reports section of its My Profile portal. Read the TPB’s guidance on false or misleading statements for worked cases.
What must you tell clients?
Section 45 of the Determination requires you to tell every current and prospective client, in writing:
- that the TPB keeps a public register of tax and BAS agents, and how to search it
- how to make a complaint to the TPB about a service
- your rights, responsibilities and obligations as a registered practitioner, and theirs to you
- any prescribed event in the last 5 years, such as a suspension, bankruptcy or a fraud conviction
- any conditions on your registration that limit the services you can provide
Give the first three at engagement or re-engagement, and when a client asks. A new prescribed event or condition goes to existing clients within 30 days. The TPB says publishing the information on your website is one way to meet the rule.
What records and quality systems do you need?
Section 30 requires records of every tax agent or BAS service you provide, or that is provided on your behalf. Keep them for at least 5 years after the service is completed.
Each record shows the nature, scope and outcome of the service, the information you considered and all advice given and received. For complex matters, it also sets out the facts, assumptions and reasoning behind the advice.
You must also train unregistered staff and supervise anyone who provides services on your behalf. And you must run a quality management system that gives you reasonable confidence you comply with the Code.
Document that system’s policies and procedures, and enforce them. The TPB expects them to cover governance, client engagement, records, confidentiality, conflicts of interest and staff training.
The scale follows your practice: its size and the complexity of your services and your clients’ affairs.
What happens if you breach the Code?
- Written caution
- The lightest sanctionNot listed on the TPB Register
- Order
- Training, supervision or limited servicesOr telling your clients about the TPB’s finding
- Suspension
- For a period the TPB setsNo tax agent services while suspended
- Termination
- Registration endsWith a ban on reapplying of up to 10 years for conduct from 1 October 2026, up from 5
- Civil penalty, individual
- Up to A$910,000 per contravention2,500 penalty units under Australia’s Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (s 50-31), at A$364 per unit, from 1 October 2026
- Civil penalty, body corporate
- Up to A$18.2 million per contravention50,000 penalty units, ordered by the Federal Court
Sources: Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (ss 30-15, 30-20, 50-31, 50-35); TPB, Sanctions; TPB, Enhancing the TPB sanctions regime Reviewed
The TPB looks into complaints and can open an investigation. If it finds a breach, it can impose one or more sanctions under section 30-15 of the Act.
Any sanction other than a written caution is listed against you on the TPB Register. If the TPB terminates your registration, it can bar you from applying again. For conduct from 1 October 2026 the maximum ban is 10 years, up from 5.
Since 1 October 2026, a failure to comply with the Code is also a civil penalty provision, section 50-31, as the TPB’s sanctions update explains. After an investigation, the TPB can ask the Federal Court to order a penalty for each contravention.
Key point
Under Australia’s Tax Agent Services Act 2009, a tax or BAS agent who breaches the Code faces a civil penalty from 1 October 2026.
For some items, such as indemnity insurance, confidentiality and client records, the TPB can issue an infringement notice instead of going to court.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Code apply to BAS agents?
Yes. Section 30-5 of the Act applies the Code to every registered tax agent and BAS agent, including partnerships and companies.
Do I need to verify a client’s identity?
Yes. The TPB says you must check proof of identity before you serve a new client, and on an ongoing basis. Failing to do so may breach Code items 1, 7 and 9. Read the TPB’s client verification guidance, or see how a Verify workflow runs the check.
Are tax agents covered by the AML/CTF reforms?
Not for tax advice alone, which AUSTRAC’s examples show is not a designated service. From 1 July 2026, a practice that also helps sell a business or create a company or trust is regulated. See designated services for accountants.
Next steps
Most of the new obligations come down to evidence: what you checked, told and recorded for each client. Start with the TPB’s Code of Professional Conduct page and its guidance on each obligation.
StackGo’s IdentityCheck runs know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) identity checks inside the customer relationship management (CRM) or practice management software your team already uses. See how IdentityCheck supports accounting practices, or read AML for accountants in Australia.
Sources
The facts on this page come from these sources, checked on 21 October 2026. The law:
- Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (ss 30-5, 30-10, 30-12, 30-15, 50-31, 50-35, 52-5)
- Tax Agent Services (Code of Professional Conduct) Determination 2024
Regulator guidance:
- TPB, Code of Professional Conduct
- TPB, The Code Determination: background and context
- TPB, Keeping your clients informed
- TPB, Obligation to keep proper client records
- TPB, Supervision, competency and quality management
- TPB, Sanctions
- TPB, Enhancing the TPB sanctions regime
AML/CTF: