Key Highlights

  • The ATO stopped more than 10,000 returns suspected of preparation by unregistered operators.
  • The stopped returns contained more than $170 million in deduction claims.
  • No. A return held for checking is not a finding of fraud.
  • Registration places paid tax practitioners within the Tax Practitioners Board's regulatory framework.

The Australian Taxation Office has stopped more than 10,000 tax returns it suspects were prepared by people who are not registered to do the job. Those returns carried more than $170 million in deduction claims, according to the ATO. With the 31 October deadline for self-lodgers now behind us and tax bills for many due around 21 November, the crackdown is a timely reminder that the person filling in your return matters as much as the numbers.

What the ATO has said about unregistered preparers

The figures come from an ATO media release dated 19 October 2026, issued as part of its end-of-tax-time reminder to lodge.

The ATO said it had stopped more than 10,000 returns suspected of being prepared by unregistered preparers, and that those returns contained more than $170 million in deduction claims.

The ATO did not say, in that release, how many of the claims were ultimately found to be wrong. A stopped return is one the ATO has held for checking. It is not the same as a finding of fraud.

Tax Practitioners Board Chair Peter de Cure was quoted in the same release: "Unregistered preparers can expose taxpayers to significant risks and undermine the integrity of the tax system."

Why registration matters under the law

Under long-standing law, the Tax Agent Services Act 2009, only people registered with the Tax Practitioners Board can generally charge a fee or receive another reward for preparing or lodging a tax return on someone else's behalf.

Registration comes with education and experience requirements, a code of professional conduct and, in general, professional Indemnity insurance. An unregistered preparer offers none of those protections.

That gap matters because the taxpayer, not the preparer, is generally responsible for what is in the return. If deductions are disallowed, it is usually the taxpayer who faces the extra tax, any interest and, in some cases, penalties.

Registered agents can also access lodgment programs that may allow returns to be lodged after 31 October. People who use someone who is not registered may assume they have that extra time when they do not.

The Ke case: allegations, myGov access and what is undecided

The Federal Court proceeding Tax Practitioners Board v Ke (No 2) [2026] FCA 1657 shows the kind of conduct regulators are pursuing. It is important to be clear that these are allegations, and the respondent denies them.

Justice Wheatley dismissed applications by the respondent, Yan Qun Ke, to stay and adjourn the Board's civil case.

The Board alleges that Ms Ke provided tax agent services while unregistered between July 2021 and July 2025, and that she used clients' myGov accounts to do so.

It is also alleged that she used another registered agent's name and registration number without permission.

Ms Ke was registered as a tax agent from May 2005 to November 2017. She also faces 16 criminal charges in the Brisbane District Court. She denies the TPB's allegations, and none of them has been proven in court.

The ruling on 10 November was procedural. It allows the civil case to continue. It does not decide whether any of the allegations are true.

The allegation that a preparer used clients' own myGov accounts highlights a broader risk. Handing over a myGov username and password gives another person access to far more than a tax return.

A linked myGov account can connect to the ATO, Medicare, Centrelink and other services. Someone with your login can, in principle, see personal details and change bank or contact information.

The ATO has been tightening this front door. In June 2026, it added security questions to the myGov linking process under its Counter Fraud Program.

The same report cited a 150% rise in ATO impersonation scams over 12 months in 2025, with 90% arriving by email.

The ATO's scam alerts page, last updated on 10 November 2026, describes an email claiming there is "a new payment update" in your ATO profile. The link installs remote desktop software that can hand control of your device to the scammer.

A registered agent does not need your myGov password. Registered agents lodge through their own secure ATO channels, using a client authorisation process.

Hypothetical example: what disallowed claims can cost

Hypothetical example: Sam earns $80,000 a year and pays a cash-in-hand preparer who is not registered. The preparer claims $3,000 in work-related deductions that Sam cannot substantiate.

At $80,000, Sam's marginal rate under the 2026–27 resident rates is 30%, plus the 2% Medicare levy, for a combined 32%.

If the ATO disallows the full $3,000, Sam's Taxable Income rises by $3,000. The extra tax is $3,000 × 32% = $960.

That is before any shortfall interest or penalties the ATO may apply, and before counting the fee Sam paid the preparer.

The actual outcome in any real case would depend on the claims, the evidence held and how the ATO treats the shortfall.

How to check a preparer before you hand over anything

The simplest step is to search the Tax Practitioners Board's public register, which lists registered tax and BAS agents and any conditions or sanctions on their registration.

Warning signs commonly flagged by regulators include a preparer who asks for your myGov login, promises an unusually large refund, takes a percentage of the refund as the fee, or will not give you a copy of the return before it is lodged.

It is also worth checking the bank account the refund is going to. A refund paid to an account you do not control is a serious red flag.

For people with simple affairs, the ATO says myTax takes an average of eight minutes to complete. That option avoids handing your details to anyone else.

What to watch

The ATO said on 19 October that about 2 million self-preparers had not yet lodged. Failure-to-lodge penalties can reach $1,820, according to the ATO.

Bills for self-preparers are "generally due 21 November", the ATO says. That date falls on a Saturday this year, so check the ATO's guidance on whether payment by the next Business day, Monday 23 November, is accepted.

The Ke matter will continue in the Federal Court, alongside the separate criminal proceedings in Brisbane. Any findings will come later.

Watch for further ATO and Tax Practitioners Board updates on stopped returns as tax time winds down, and for MYEFO in December, which will update the government's Revenue outlook.