Practitioner Guide · Updated 18 May 2026
A plain-language walk-through of registration with the Tax Practitioners Board under the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 — the two registration types, the qualifying pathway, the four ongoing standards, renewal, and the 14-item Code of Professional Conduct.
Section 1 — Which registration do I need?
Under TASA 2009 the TPB issues two categories of practitioner registration. Pick the one whose scope matches the services you intend to charge for. Financial planners and lawyers whose engagements touch tax may also need registration depending on whether their work falls within the statutory definition of a “tax agent service”.
Registered under TASA 2009 to provide tax agent services for fee or reward — preparing and lodging income tax returns, advising on tax law, and dealing with the ATO on behalf of clients.
Can do
Cannot do
Registered under TASA to provide BAS services only — a narrower scope focused on GST, PAYG, FBT instalments, payroll obligations and superannuation guarantee administration.
Can do
Cannot do
Section 2 — The qualifying pathway
The Tax Agent Services Regulations 2009 set the minimum qualifications and supervised-experience hours. Degree pathways require less experience; certificate-only pathways require more.
Courses must be from a TPB-approved provider — check the approved-course register before enrolling.
Older Cert IV cohorts may need a top-up unit if GST/BAS principles wasn't bundled at the time.
| Registration | Relevant experience | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Tax agent (degree pathway) | ~1,400 hours | Within preceding 4 years |
| Tax agent (other pathways) | Up to 12 months FT equivalent | Within preceding 5 years |
| BAS agent | 1,000–1,400 hours | Within preceding 4 years |
All relevant experience must be supervised by a registered tax or BAS agent and fall within the statutory definition. Keep a contemporaneous log — the supervising agent will need to attest to the hours.
Section 3 — The four ongoing standards
Registration is conditional. It can be terminated if any of these four standards lapses during the registration period.
Standard 1
Good fame, integrity and character — no conviction for a serious offence involving fraud or dishonesty in the last 5 years, no bankruptcy or Part IX/X arrangement in the last 5 years, and personal tax affairs in order.
Standard 2
PII at the level set by the TPB based on practice size and fees — minimum coverage typically $250,000 – $1,000,000, with single-claim and aggregate limits and policy terms including the legal liability of employees and contractors.
Standard 3
90 hours of continuing professional education across a rolling 3-year period — for both tax and BAS agents. Records are mandatory; the TPB audits CPE logs at renewal.
See our CPE tracker for the relevant vs structured-hours breakdown.
Standard 4
Comply with the 14 mandatory items in section 30-10 of TASA — covering independence, confidentiality, competence, lawful behaviour, and timely accurate service.
Section 4 — Renewal & ongoing obligations
Registration lasts 3 years, not for life. Renewals must be lodged at least 30 days before expiry to avoid a gap and the automatic-deregistration cliff at the 30-day-lapse mark.
Each year between renewals, you confirm to the TPB you still meet the requirements: PII current, CPE on track, no fit-and-proper changes, no relevant convictions. Late or false declarations are themselves Code breaches.
Notify the TPB within 30 days of: change of business / postal address, disciplinary action by a recognised association, a criminal conviction, becoming insolvent / bankrupt, or ceasing supervision of a tax-agent service.
Lodging after expiry is a late renewal and attracts an additional fee. After 30 days lapsed the registration is automatically terminated — you would then need a fresh application, including experience and qualifications all over again.
Set a reminder for 90 days before expiry so you have time to chase PII renewal, finalise CPE top-ups, and update the TPB on any notifiable change before the formal renewal window opens.
Section 5 — The Code of Professional Conduct
The Code groups into honesty & integrity, independence, confidentiality, competence, and other professional responsibilities. Items work together — breach is dealt with under section 30 of TASA and can trigger written caution, order, suspension, or termination of registration.
Honest dealings with clients, the TPB and the ATO.
Late personal returns or unpaid debts are a Code breach.
Hold trust money separately and account promptly.
Subject to law — you cannot help a client breach tax law.
Identify, disclose and manage in writing.
To the ATO, the TPB, or third parties about client affairs.
No disclosure without lawful authority or written consent.
90 hours CPE over 3 years for tax and BAS agents.
Make inquiries; don't blindly accept client figures.
Apply the law to the facts, not the other way around.
Within reasonable time and to a professional standard.
To the level required by the TPB.
Notify the TPB of relevant matters; respond on time.
Report significant breaches by yourself and other agents (from 1 July 2024).
The most common application bottleneck is verifying 1,400 hours of relevant experience years after the fact, when the supervising agent has changed firms or retired. Keep a running spreadsheet — date, client (de-identified), task type, hours, supervisor — so the eventual attestation form is a copy-paste, not an archaeology expedition.
Tax-agent PII is claims-made — the policy in force when the claim is made responds, not the policy in force when the work was done. When you leave a firm, secure run-off cover (typically 7 years) or confirm your new policy covers prior acts. Without one of these, an old job becomes uninsured.
A Code breach under section 30 of TASA isn't a criminal offence — it triggers TPB-administered sanctions: written caution, an order (e.g. supervised practice, additional CPE), suspension up to 12 months, or termination. From 1 July 2024 new breach-reporting obligations require agents to self-report significant breaches and, in some cases, breaches by other registered agents.
A partnership or company can itself register as a tax/BAS agent under TASA, provided at least one supervising agent (an individual registered tax or BAS agent) is identified for each tax-agent service. The supervising agent takes personal responsibility — losing supervision is a 30-day notification trigger and can deregister the entity.
Typically around 3 months from submission, assuming a complete application. The TPB aims to decide within 15 business days of receiving everything it needs, but verifying qualifying experience (chasing supervising agents), background checks and any criminal-history clearances commonly stretch the real-world timeline to 8–12 weeks. Build that lead time into any plan to leave a firm and go out on your own.
Yes — you can work as an employee or contractor of a registered tax agent and prepare tax agent services on their behalf, provided they take responsibility, supervise your work, and the work is lodged under their registration. You become legally required to register when you (a) provide tax agent services for fee or reward in your own right, or (b) advertise yourself as a tax agent. Work performed in this supervised capacity is what produces the relevant experience hours for your own application later.
The TPB considers your good fame, integrity and character. The common disqualifiers are: a conviction in the last 5 years for a serious offence involving fraud or dishonesty; undischarged bankruptcy or having entered into a Part IX/Part X arrangement in the last 5 years; being subject to a court order to convict you under a taxation law in the last 5 years; prior TPB or professional-body sanctions; or unresolved personal tax debts. Older issues aren't automatic bars — the TPB weighs context, time elapsed and rehabilitation.
No. A tax agent's registration covers BAS services as well — the BAS-agent registration is a narrower category for people who don't meet (or don't need) the full tax-agent requirements. The reverse isn't true: BAS agents cannot prepare income tax returns. If you're moving up from BAS agent to tax agent, you keep operating under the BAS registration while the tax-agent application is being assessed.
OSF is the ATO's permission framework for what software products can lodge on behalf of clients — it's separate from your TPB registration. Being a registered tax or BAS agent is necessary but not sufficient to lodge through a given software product: the software must also be OSF-authorised for the specific form (BAS, CTR, PTR, TTR, TPAR, etc.). Most agents lodge via Online Services for Agents in the browser, which carries the ATO's own broad coverage. If you plan to self-lodge from a third-party tool, confirm the tool's OSF scope first.
Anyone — a client, an ex-staff member, the ATO, or another agent — can lodge a complaint. The TPB triages, may seek your written response, and can investigate under Subdivision 60-E of TASA. Outcomes range from no further action, to a written caution, an order (further education / supervision), suspension, or termination. Under the breach-reporting reforms in force from 1 July 2024, agents must self-report significant breaches and in some cases breaches by other agents. If served with a notice: do not ignore it, respond within the stated time, document everything, and consider professional-association legal support before responding substantively.
OneBookPlus for tax agents tracks CPE hours, PII renewals, client engagement letters and the 30-day notification triggers — so registration admin doesn't become the thing that costs you your registration.
Last reviewed and updated: by Bishal Shrestha
About the author
Founder & CEO, OneBookPlus
Bishal has over a decade of experience in digital marketing, web development, and small business consulting across Australia. Bishal has supported Australian accountants and BAS agents through TPB registration — education and experience pathways, fit-and-proper evidence, and Code of Conduct compliance.
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