Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) has made a submission to Treasury regarding exposure draft regulations and determination which outline how the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) publishes information about sanctioned practitioners on the public register.

The draft regulations and determination support reforms in the Treasury Laws Amendment (Strengthening Accountability for Tax Adviser Misconduct and Other Measures) Bill 2026 (the Bill), which is currently before Parliament. The Bill expands the TPB’s powers, allowing it to issue infringement notices, accept enforceable undertakings and impose interim or contingent suspensions of a tax practitioner’s registration. The broader range of sanctions will allow the TPB to respond more proportionately to misconduct.

The draft regulations and determination outline:

• When the TPB will be required to include a sanction in the public register of tax practitioners
• When a tax practitioner will be required to inform clients that they are subject to a sanction, and
• Broadens the information that can be provided to the ATO when a client has refused to correct a false and misleading statement which may cause substantial harm to others

CA ANZ supports the draft regulations and determination, provided the Bill is amended to require an imminent risk of harm before the interim suspension power can be used.

CA ANZ is concerned that the Bill, as currently drafted and which is intended to give the TPB interim suspension powers where there are reasonable grounds to believe a practitioner’s behaviour poses a risk of serious and immediate harm to tax clients or the tax system, does not explicitly include the ‘immediate harm’ requirement. This omission could allow the TPB to use the interim suspension powers without first providing natural justice to the practitioner, even in cases where a full investigation could be conducted before deciding on a suspension or lesser sanction.

CA ANZ is also concerned about the short consultation periods for the Bill and related instruments, given the significant impact these measures could have on the rights, obligations and professional livelihoods of registered tax practitioners.

CA ANZ’s key recommendations include:

• Amending the explanatory statement to accurately reflect the limited circumstances in which the interim suspension power should be used.
• Providing further guidance in the Bill and related instruments on how the range of sanctions will be applied on an escalating basis.
• Amending the explanatory statement to the determination to avoid any suggestion that tax practitioners may disclose confidential client information beyond what is specified.