THE Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) has terminated the company registration of Sydney based agent TLL Tax Pty Ltd (TLL) for misconduct and banned them for two years.

The TPB determined TLL breached the Code of Professional Conduct in the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 relating to competency, honesty and integrity and noted TLL attempted to rort the COVID-19 stimulus Cash Flow Boost for over $20,000.

The investigation into the case focused on two clients and highlighted that TLL had breached the TPB’s Code of Professional Conduct in the following ways:

• TLL had changed the bank account details of its clients to those of the agents company director, Liying Tong, without authority.
• Lodged income tax returns and business activity statements on behalf of one client who was no longer trading, without their knowledge or authorisation, which included false amounts.
• When confronted by the first client TLL subsequently lodged unauthorised amendments to the client’s tax returns and business activity statements.
• Lodged a further business activity statement for the second client, reporting an amount that the client was not aware of and which could not be substantiated.

In the investigation, it was found that two days after the falsified refund had been received, Ms Tong had contacted the first client and made an offer to purchase the client’s business, which the client declined.

Following this Ms Tong offered to apply for COVID-19 related stimulus funds in return for a commission, despite knowing that the client was ineligible to receive the stimulus benefits as it had not been trading.

With the second client, TLL had reported false turnover amounts, to dishonestly qualify them to receive a Cash Flow Boost payment, which it was not eligible to receive.

Unjustified Cash Flow Boost and GST claims of over $20,000 were subsequently paid into a bank account held by the company’s director, Ms Tong.

This payment was retained by the agent and transferred to another of their accounts and not passed onto the client. 

TPB chair Ian Klug said the misconduct of TLL and the company’s director, Liying Tong was of grave concern to the TPB.

"To fraudulently claim COVID-19 stimulus payments affects the entire Australian community and takes advantage of the pandemic situation we are all living under," Mr Klug said.

"Ms Liying Tong was in a position of trust, operating in an uncertain environment, and she abused that trust."

The TPB is asking that if people become aware that an agent is attempting to make a fraudulent claim against the COVID-19 stimulus measures that they contact the TPB immediately.

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THE IMPACT of natural disasters and COVID-19 in 2020 has affected lives all over Australia, and now the Parliament’s Electoral Matters Committee has launched an inquiry into the future conduct of elections in emergency situations.

Committee Chair Senator James McGrath said this year’s COVID-19 pandemic in particular had underscored that emergency situations can and do arise during election periods.

"From health pandemics to natural disasters, international conflict or civil unrest, we want to find out whether our electoral law and the Australian Electoral Commission are as prepared as possible for unusual events or disruptions in the future," Senator McGrath said.

"We have a healthy and secure electoral system but we need to make sure that in all scenarios barriers are identified early and issues worked through before they are needed so that everyone can have their say."

The Committee would particularly like to hear from constitutional experts; emergency management services; cyber-threat experts; Commonwealth, State and Territory governments and agencies; disability and inclusion advocates; Indigenous peak bodies and voters; and electoral commissions.

"We’ve seen from the Eden-Monaro by-election, as well as elections in Queensland, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory, that measures are already being put in place to deal with COVID-19," Senator McGrath said.

"I’m very interested in taking the lessons learned from these examples, as well as next month’s state election in Queensland, and seeing how they might apply on a federal level."

As part of the inquiry, the Committee will examine the short and long term impacts of unexpected, rapidly developing external events that could substantially interrupt normal voting, election administration or campaigning, including contingency plans for an increased demand in alternative voting options.

The Committee invites written submissions addressing any or all of the terms of reference. Information on how to make a submission may be found at the following link. Submissions are requested by November 13, 2020.

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THE Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell said Labor’s alternative Budget plan to make childcare cheaper, would deliver essential support to women in small business.

Ms Carnell's comments follow Labor Leader Anthony Albanese’s Budget reply speech, during which he pledged $6.2 billion over three years to increase rebates on childcare fees for all families.

“About 38 percent of small businesses are owned and operated by women, many of whom have been hit hard by the COVID crisis and rely on childcare as they work to get their businesses back up and running again,” Ms Carnell said.

“Right now childcare is unaffordable for many women in small businesses, particularly those who have businesses that have been severely impacted by COVID restrictions.

“We know this recession has had a disproportionate impact on women and with childcare fees remaining unaffordable, mothers – more often than not – need to spend more time at home to look after their kids. It’s bad for small business and even worse for the economy.

“There is an overwhelming economic case for affordable childcare, with many credible economists arguing it would boost the participation rate and deliver significant productivity gains.

“Crucially, affordable childcare would allow more women to work on growing their businesses – an important contribution to Australia’s economic recovery.”

www.asbfeo.gov.au

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THE parliamentary inquiry into the destruction of Indigenous heritage sites at Juukan Gorge will hold three public hearings next week where it will hear from witnesses including the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura Aboriginal Corporation (PKKP), Rio Tinto, and the Western Australian (WA) Government.

In its submission, the PKKP Aboriginal Corporation were critical that Rio Tinto had not protected the gorge, despite the PKKP, as well as anthropologists and archaeologists, providing Rio with information on the significance of the Juukan rockshelters.

Following their previous appearance at the inquiry, Rio Tinto has provided additional information to the Committee suggesting that it had held discussions with the PKKP prior to the destruction of the rockshelters and that the significance of the site was well understood by both sides at the time contracts were signed.

The WA Government has also provided additional information to the inquiry, particularly around features of its draft Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Bill and the role of its proposed Local Aboriginal Heritage Services.

Northern Australia Committee Chair Warren Entsch said the upcoming hearings would be a critical juncture in terms of the Committee’s work.

“We are looking forward to hearing from the PKKP to get their perspective on how the tragedy unfolded and what impact it has had on their community," Mr Entsch said.

“One of the key objectives of this inquiry is to look at what needs to change to ensure that Indigenous heritage is better protected in the future. Part of that is really digging into what went wrong at Rio and how it allowed this to happen.

"The other part is about strengthening legislative protection, and so we look forward to hearing what the WA Government is doing to ensure that we never have another situation like the destruction that occurred at the Juukan Gorge," Mr Entsch said.

Public hearing details

Date: Monday, 12 October 2020
Time: 12pm to 3pm AEDT
Location: By videoconference/teleconference

Date: Tuesday 13 October 2020
Time: 11am to 4pm AEDT
Location: by videoconference/ teleconference

Date: Friday 16 October 2020
Time 12pm to 3pm AEDT
Location: by videoconference/teleconference

The hearings will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live.  Programs are available on the Committee’s website.

Further details of the inquiry, including terms of reference, can be found on the Committee’s website.

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