The Australian Tax Practitioner’s Board (TPB), the governing body that issues Tax Agent Licenses, requires primarily two major elements to be satisfied before a Tax Agent License is issued:
- Certain academic qualifications, and,
- A specified period of work experience working under the supervision of a Registered Tax Agent.
A common misconception in regard to academic qualifications is that the TPB requires you to complete certain degrees or diplomas, it doesn’t. The TPB requires that you successfully complete specific subjects from an authorised educational institution not necessarily leading up to the completion of a full diploma or degree. Certain of these subjects need to be current (ie completed less than 5 years prior to the submission of your application to become a Tax Agent) for example a module covering the rules and regulations governing your activities as a Tax Agent; other subjects can be less current such as Australian Business Law and Australian Tax Law. Because every case is different the best approach here is to call the TPB and tell them what qualifications and experience you already have and ask them to tell you the subjects that you will need (if any) in addition to your existing qualifications. Another approach to this question is to call a reputable and TPB authorised training college and ask them the same question.
Often the more perplexing issues is how to get the “relevant experience” required by the TPB to support your license application. Many bookkeepers in public practice face the dilemma of potentially abandoning their practice and go to work for a registered tax agent. This is of course problematic both because it is financially not viable and secondly many registered tax agents won’t sign off on the required relevant experience form simply because they don’t want you competing with them in providing tax services to their clients. This problem often brings to an end any thought of acquiring a Tax Agent License.
The answer to the relevant experience issue is the Program offered by Tax Agent Pathway. They will supervise your tax work in situ allowing you to remain in your practice preparing tax returns and BAS returns for your existing clients. You effectively work for them as a consultant with them supervising the tax work your do for your clients under their highly experienced guidance.
Contact us or call on 03 8456 1461 or email Tax Agent Pathway at sales@taxagentpathway.com.au.
