A condition of renewal, filled in by the Board
The Act does not set the hours. It makes completing CPE that meets the Board’s requirements part of an individual’s eligibility when registration is renewed, beside holding professional indemnity insurance that meets the Board’s requirements (s 20-5(1)(d)). The Board explains its requirements in TPB(GS) 37/2021, issued on 30 November 2021 and last modified on 30 April 2026, which applies to tax and BAS agents from 1 July 2022.
The Board’s tables, in full
The Board’s two tables, printed complete as they stood when last modified on 30 April 2026:
| Type of tax agent registration | Hours within a 3-year registration, at least | Hours each year, at least |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 120 | 20 |
| Conditional: Tax (financial) advice services | 60 | 7 |
| Conditional: Australian financial services | 60 | 7 |
| Conditional: Quantity surveying | 6 | 2 |
| Conditional: Fuel tax credit specialty | 6 | 2 |
| Any other condition | 45 | 5 |
| Type of BAS agent registration | Hours within a 3-year registration, at least | Hours each year, at least |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 90 | 20 |
| Conditional: Fuel tax credits | 6 | 2 |
| Any other condition | 45 | 5 |
“If your registration period is other than 3 years, you should complete CPE on a pro-rata basis.”
A conditional tax practitioner is a registered tax agent or BAS agent with a condition on their registration under section 20-25(5) of the Act, relating to the subject area in which they provide services. The guidance statement’s Schedule 1 names three categories with their own minimums: tax (financial) advice services, 60 hours over 3 years with at least 7 each year; quantity surveyors, 6 hours with at least 2 each year; and fuel tax credits, 6 hours with at least 2 each year. For any other conditional practitioner the Board expects 45 hours over 3 years, with not less than 5 in any year.
When the three years start
“Your CPE period will be for a period of 3 years and begins on the date you register with us.” When annual registrations began on 1 July 2024, the Board updated its guidance to confirm that the 3-year CPE period continues to apply.
A member of a recognised professional association can instead align the CPE period with the association’s, which may be based on a calendar year, a financial year or the anniversary of the membership start date. The Board does not need to be told, and an election cannot be changed unless the practitioner moves to another recognised association.
The yearly minimum still applies inside the period. Whatever an association’s cycle, the Board says tax agents and BAS agents should complete at least 20 hours of relevant CPE in any given year, and conditional agents at least 5.
Relevant CPE, including online
CPE must be relevant to the services the practitioner provides, but need not be limited to technical knowledge; the Board names practice management and ethics as relevant too. The Board does not accredit CPE activities or prescribe topics. The guidance statement gives these examples of CPE activities, printed here complete:
- seminars, workshops, webinars, courses and lectures;
- conferences and discussion groups that are structured, including those held by phone or video conference;
- tertiary courses, including by distance learning, from universities, RTOs, other registered higher education providers or other approved course providers;
- podcasts, webcasts, blogs and other educational activities, where an appropriate organisation provides them;
- researching, writing and presenting technical publications or structured training;
- peer-reviewing research and writing submitted for publication, or for presenting in structured training;
- courses assisted by computer or the internet, and audio or video tape packages;
- structured in-house training on tax subjects, given by people or organisations with suitable qualifications or practical experience;
- appropriate seminars and presentations by the ATO;
- relevant CPE a recognised tax or BAS agent association offers to members and non-members;
- a unit of study or other CPE activity on the Act, including the Code of Professional Conduct.
Two shares are capped over the CPE period: technical or professional reading, which “may include visual and audio resources”, at no more than 25 per cent, and educative health and wellbeing activities at no more than 10 per cent.
Some things do not count. Providing a tax agent or BAS service is not, of itself, CPE, and neither is research done in the course of providing one. A course used to gain initial registration will not generally count, though a later, higher-level course may.
The log, and what happens at renewal
- As each activity endsPractitioners must keep a contemporaneous record and evidence of their CPE; the Board says the record should be made as soon as possible after the activity and include its details and hours.
- At renewal, or any timeThe Board requires confirmation of CPE at renewal and may ask for evidence at any time during registration.
- Five years after the period endsRecords should be kept for 5 years from the end of the CPE period.
Where extenuating circumstances prevent the minimum, the Board will consider relief, provided the practitioner can show they tried to use the flexibility of the 3-year period to meet its requirements.
CPE also sits beside the Code of Professional Conduct in section 30-10 of the Act, which sets standards of professional and ethical conduct that registered tax practitioners must comply with; the Board says meeting its CPE requirements helps practitioners keep up the knowledge and skills the Code asks for.
Solicitors count in units over a year that starts on 1 April: see CPD for solicitors. Credit representatives work to ASIC’s yearly figure: see training for mortgage brokers. The home page compares what each rule says about online learning.