> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.theaidirectory.com.au/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # The TPB's AI guidance is final: your accountant is still on the hook, not the chatbot - URL: https://www.theaidirectory.com.au/news-tpb-ai-tax-practitioners-australia-2026/ - Published: 2026-09-04T23:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-08T05:27:04.000Z - Description: Australia's tax regulator has finalised its rules on how tax and BAS agents use AI. The headline hasn't changed: the agent stays responsible, not the software. What's new is that it's settled — and that it reaches AI which acts on its own. - Author: Adam - Tags: News, Regulation, Tax Practitioners Board, AI Policy, #news **Posted:** 5 September 2026 · **Category:** Finance & Accounting --- Your accountant can use ChatGPT to draft your tax advice. What they cannot do is blame the chatbot when it gets something wrong. That is now settled. On **22 July 2026** the Tax Practitioners Board published **TPB(GS) 55/2026, "The use of Artificial Intelligence and the Code of Professional Conduct"** — final guidance for every registered tax and BAS agent in the country. It replaces the exposure draft the TPB put out in March. We covered that draft in June. This piece replaces it, because the status has changed and one part of the guidance deserves more attention than it got. ## What changed between draft and final Two things worth knowing. The document was **upgraded in status**. The March version was an exposure draft in the form of an information sheet, TPB(I) D62/2026\. What landed in July is a **Guidance Statement** — the TPB's settled interpretation, not a proposal. Submissions closed on 21 April, the TPB considered them, and the final was issued three months later. What did not change is the principle at the centre of it, and it survived the consultation word for word: > "While AI tools are useful and can deliver significant benefits, tax practitioners are still ultimately responsible for the tax agent services they provide to their clients." TPB Chair Peter de Cure AM framed the release as support rather than restriction: "AI has the potential to increase productivity, drive efficiencies and enhance client service across the tax profession when used appropriately… We want to support tax practitioners in embracing the benefits of AI with confidence, while continuing to meet the high professional and ethical standards set out in the Code." ## What the guidance actually says It maps the existing Code of Professional Conduct onto everyday AI use. **Competency.** Agents "remain accountable for the accuracy of information and advice they provide to their clients." They must exercise their own professional judgement and "should not rely on AI output as a substitute for their own analysis of a client's circumstances." The guidance names the failure mode directly: AI models "may hallucinate or provide inaccurate information and as such cannot be relied on as a replacement for tax knowledge, experience or expertise." Agents should verify AI-generated content "throughout each step of the workflow," establish processes to understand and contest AI outputs — and **document each of those steps**. That documentation is not optional politeness; it is how an agent demonstrates compliance with the record-keeping and quality-management sections of the 2024 Code Determination. **Confidentiality.** This is the sharp one, and it is the part with teeth for anyone choosing a tool. Under Code item 6, an agent must not disclose information relating to a client's affairs to a third party without permission. The TPB is explicit that entering client information into an AI model can be exactly that disclosure, "depending on how these tools are configured and used" — and it defines a third party broadly, as "any entity other than the client and the tax practitioner." Permission has to come first, and the TPB recommends the agent tell the client who the disclosure is to, where it will be made, **where the data will be stored**, and whether AI tools may be used. A signed engagement letter, a signed consent, a documented fact-find, or a general authority can all carry it. That "where the data will be stored" line is the one to notice. An obligation that used to be a footnote about outsourcing is now a question every agent must be able to answer about every AI tool they touch — which makes data residency a compliance question in this category, not a preference. **Supervision and quality management.** Firms must ensure anyone providing services on their behalf is appropriately supervised, and must maintain a documented system of quality management covering how AI is used. **Privacy.** The Australian Privacy Principles still apply. Where tax file numbers are involved, so does the Privacy (Tax File Number) Rule 2015. ## The part that got missed: AI which acts on its own The guidance sets out the AI capabilities it covers, and the list includes "functionality that operates autonomously without continuous human intervention and may take actions on behalf of the user." That is agentic AI, named in a regulator's guidance. If a tool reconciles, classifies or lodges without a human approving each step, it sits inside the Code — and the agent still owns the output. Any practice trialling an AI agent should read that line twice. Crucially, none of this is new law. The guidance creates no obligations that were not already in the *Tax Agent Services Act 2009* and the 2024 Determination. What is new is that the application to AI has been written down and settled. ## What it means for everyday Australians If you use a tax agent or bookkeeper, this is reassurance, not alarm. Your agent is free to use AI to work faster — and is personally accountable for the result, exactly as before. "The software made an error" is not a defence. One thing is worth doing: ask your agent how they use AI, and where your information ends up. Under this guidance a good agent should already have an answer, and your consent on file. If they cannot tell you where the data is stored, that is now a gap in their compliance, not just an awkward moment. ## What it means for agents The consultation window has closed and the guidance is settled, so treat it as a checklist. Review your AI tools for data security and storage location. Get client consent before feeding their information into anything. Document your review processes. Keep verifying outputs yourself. "I used AI" will not satisfy the Code. Treating an AI tool like a junior staff member you must supervise remains the closest useful analogy — with the difference that a junior does not hallucinate a case citation. ## Where it stands now It is final, and it applies now. There is no commencement date to wait for: the obligations it explains have been in the Act and the Determination all along, and the guidance simply says how they land on AI. The TPB ran a supporting webinar for practitioners on 25 August. The direction is the right one. Too much AI commentary in the accounting world swings between hype and panic. The TPB has done something more useful — it has said, calmly, that the old rules still hold, and then been specific about where they bite. AI is a tool. The professional using it answers for it. That principle is exactly what our Finance & Accounting coverage holds every tool, and every claim about a tool, against. A standing note for this category: no AI tool reviewed here replaces qualified professional advice. For your own tax, accounting or legal position, talk to a registered practitioner. ## Frequently asked questions ### What changed? The Tax Practitioners Board published its final AI guidance — Guidance Statement TPB(GS) 55/2026 — on 22 July 2026, replacing the March exposure draft TPB(I) D62/2026\. It explains how the existing Code of Professional Conduct applies when a registered agent uses AI on client work. It creates no new law, and it is now settled rather than proposed. ### Does this affect Australian users? If you use a tax agent or bookkeeper, it's reassurance, not alarm. Your agent can use AI to work faster but stays personally accountable — "the software made an error" is no defence. Ask your agent how they use AI and where your data is stored; under this guidance they should be able to answer, with your consent on file. ### Does it change our recommendation? It sharpens one criterion. Because the TPB expects an agent to tell clients where their data will be stored, data residency becomes a compliance question for AI tools in this category rather than a nice-to-have. No AI tool reviewed here replaces qualified professional advice; for your own tax or accounting position, talk to a registered practitioner. --- ## Read next - Category guide: [Best AI Accounting & Tax Tools for Australian Businesses (2026)](https://www.theaidirectory.com.au/best-ai-accounting-tax-tools-australia-2026/) - [Xero vs MYOB for Australian Small Business 2026](https://www.theaidirectory.com.au/compare-xero-vs-myob-australia-2026/) - [Xero vs QuickBooks for Australian small business 2026](https://www.theaidirectory.com.au/compare-xero-vs-quickbooks-australia-2026/) ## Sources - **Primary —** Tax Practitioners Board, *TPB(GS) 55/2026 — The use of Artificial Intelligence and the Code of Professional Conduct*, issued 22 July 2026 (document history, Code obligations, competency and confidentiality wording, AI capability list). https://www.tpb.gov.au/tpbgs-552026-use-artificial-intelligence-and-code-professional-conduct · [Wayback snapshot 5 September 2026](https://web.archive.org/web/20260905060031/https://www.tpb.gov.au/tpbgs-552026-use-artificial-intelligence-and-code-professional-conduct) - **Primary —** Tax Practitioners Board media release, *TPB releases guidance on responsible AI use for tax practitioners* (Chair Peter de Cure AM quotes; 25 August 2026 webinar), issued 22 July 2026\. https://www.tpb.gov.au/tpb-releases-guidance-responsible-ai-use-tax-practitioners · [Wayback snapshot 5 September 2026](https://web.archive.org/web/20260905060124/https://www.tpb.gov.au/tpb-releases-guidance-responsible-ai-use-tax-practitioners) - **Primary (superseded, retained for history) —** Tax Practitioners Board, *Exposure Draft TPB(I) D62/2026*, issued 24 March 2026; submissions closed 21 April 2026\. https://www.tpb.gov.au/exposure-draft-tpbi-d622026-use-artificial-intelligence-and-code-professional-conduct · [Wayback snapshot 2 June 2026](https://web.archive.org/web/20260602115704/https://www.tpb.gov.au/exposure-draft-tpbi-d622026-use-artificial-intelligence-and-code-professional-conduct) All claims sourced to tpb.gov.au primary documents, read in full and snapshotted 5 September 2026. **Update history:** Published 2 June 2026 on the exposure draft. Rewritten 5 September 2026 against the final Guidance Statement, which the draft version pre-dated. --- *The AI Directory Australia is independent. We review and score AI tools for Australian users — AUD pricing, AU availability, data residency, GST. We don't write ads; affiliate links are disclosed and sponsored content is labelled. Edited by Adam.*