Why Your Accountant's Letter Was Rejected, and What Lenders Need
Business Owners Finance Hub
Accountant letter rejected: what failed, what fixes it, and what happens next
If a lender sends back your accountant's letter, your home loan has not necessarily been declined. First identify whether the problem is the signer, form, wording, figures, whose income it states, how current the evidence is, or whether the letter can stand alone. Then decide whether to reissue the letter, supply other income evidence or change the evidence path.
Quick Answer
A rejected accountant's letter usually means the letter failed one of the lender's tests, not that your home loan is declined. The failed test is usually the signer, the form, the wording, figures that miss your records, whose income it states, its age, or the letter standing alone.
Also called: accountant's declaration; capacity to repay certificate; accountant verification letter; CPA letter.
Why was my accountant's letter rejected?
Your accountant's letter was most likely rejected because it failed one of the lender's own tests, not because the lender rejected your income, and which test failed decides the fix. For the letter itself, a lender can read it seven ways: who signed it, whether it is on the lender's form, whether its wording can be relied on, whether the figure matches your other records, whose income it states, how old it is, and whether it is being asked to stand alone. Lenders offering self-employed home loans assessed on alternative documents run these tests before the income figure itself is weighed.
| Reason the letter was sent back | Test it failed | What the lender may need instead | Fixed by a reissued letter? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signer not accepted by that lender | Signer policy | A letter from the accountant or registered tax agent who prepares your returns | Yes, once the signer the lender accepts reissues it |
| Letter on letterhead where the lender requires its own form | Form policy | The lender's declaration form, completed | Yes, on the lender's form |
| Wording the lender cannot rely on, such as a disclaimer, no stated figure or hedged income | Reliance | A stated figure with its basis and supporting records | Sometimes, only if the accountant will state a figure and its basis |
| Figure does not match BAS, bank statements or ABN and GST history | Cross-check | Records that reconcile, or an explanation the accountant can stand behind | No, the records have to reconcile first |
| Letter states company or trust profit where the lender asked for borrower income | Whose income | The income figure the lender is assessing, with its basis | Sometimes, if the wrong income figure was the only problem |
| Letter or figures too old | Currency | Evidence covering the year the lender is assessing | Sometimes, once the newer year's figures exist |
| Letter stands alone on a regulated home loan | Verification | Supporting evidence alongside the letter | No, supporting evidence is needed |
A servicing decline is different from a rejected letter. If the lender accepted the income but that income did not support the loan you asked for, that is a servicing decline, not a rejected letter, and a new letter will not change it. That path belongs to the guide on when the whole application was declined.
Does a rejected accountant's letter mean your home loan is declined?
A rejected accountant's letter does not, by itself, mean the lender has declined your home loan. The application may still be under assessment while the lender asks for a corrected letter or a different source of income evidence. A formal decline is different: the lender has made a credit decision on the application.
| What the lender says | What it can mean | What to do next |
|---|---|---|
| Correct or reissue the letter | A document defect, such as the signer, form, wording, income figure or date | Fix the exact defect and resubmit it to the existing application |
| We cannot use this letter or signer | The evidence path does not match that lender's policy | Ask which accepted evidence can be used before starting a new application elsewhere |
| The income does not support the loan | A servicing result, not a letter-format problem | Review the loan amount, term or structure rather than simply reissuing the letter |
| The application is declined | A formal credit decision has been made | Ask why before authorising another application |
A rejected letter is not itself a separate listing on your credit report. The application may already have generated a credit enquiry: the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner says a credit provider's request for your report in connection with an application can be recorded as a credit enquiry. A new application to another credit provider can create another enquiry, and Moneysmart's loan rejection guidance warns that too many applications in a short time can lower your credit score. So changing lender should come after you know whether the current application can be repaired, not before.
Who does a lender accept as the signer of an accountant's letter?
Each lender sets which signer credentials it accepts, while tax-agent, credit-licensing and professional rules separately limit what the accountant can provide. Depending on the policy, a lender may ask for a registered tax agent, a member of CPA Australia, CA ANZ or IPA, the accountant who prepares the returns, or a combination. There is no single signer credential every lender accepts, which is why an accountant's letter one lender took can come back from another.
How does a lender identify the signer?
An assessor looks for the practice letterhead, the practice name and ABN, a professional membership or tax agent registration number, a signature and a date. The professional bodies' own financing template asks the signer to tick membership of CPA Australia, Chartered Accountants ANZ or the Institute of Public Accountants, and to give the client's ABN and trading name. A letter missing information the lender requires may be queried before the figures are accepted. The same logic runs through the one document behind the application: where the document came from is judged before what it says.
Can a lender check who signed it?
Yes, a lender can check the signer on the Tax Practitioners Board public register, which shows a practitioner's registration number, whether they are registered, unregistered, suspended or terminated, any conditions of registration, and sanctions (TPB, help using the TPB register, page modified 30 March 2026, read 17 September 2026). The Tax Agent Services Act 2009 governs who may provide tax agent services for a fee, including section 50-5, Providing tax agent services if unregistered, and section 50-15, Representing that you are a registered tax agent or BAS agent if unregistered (compilation dated 21 February 2025). It does not set any lender's signer policy. That stays with the lender.
What happens when the lender calls your accountant to verify the letter?
A lender can call your accountant to confirm where the letter came from and the facts in it, but no single verification script is used by every lender. The lender may check that the signer is who the letter says they are, that the accountant acts for the borrower or business, and that factual information given during verification is consistent with the letter and application. If the accountant is newly appointed and did not prepare the historical figures, the lender may ask how those figures were sourced or request records that independently support them.
Your accountant also has confidentiality obligations. The Tax Practitioners Board says that under Code item 6, Confidentiality of client information, a registered tax practitioner must not disclose information about a client's affairs to a third party without the client's permission unless there is a legal duty to do so. Permission can be given through a signed engagement, signed consent or other communication that identifies what may be disclosed and to whom. If the accountant does not answer, declines to discuss the file, or gives factual information that conflicts with the letter, the lender may pause verification and ask for clarification or other evidence rather than treating the letter as verified.
Professional guidance also limits what the accountant may be willing to say. CA ANZ advises members to exercise a high degree of caution when asked for an accountant's letter, and the joint professional-body toolkit recommends declining financing letters and, where a member does proceed, providing limited, historical information. So a verification call can confirm facts without turning the accountant into the person who decides whether you can afford the loan.
A lender may also question a signer who is related to the borrower, is a business partner or is employed by a related entity. Whether that accountant is permitted to provide the requested statement and whether the lender will accept that signer are separate questions.
Why does it matter whether the letter is on the lender's own form?
Some alt doc lenders issue their own accountant's declaration form, and a letter on letterhead that does not answer the form's questions can be sent back even when every figure in it is right. The form is the lender's checklist. A free-form letter may not answer the same questions, and that distinction is one of the first things covered in what an assessor checks first.
What does an accountant's letter need to include?
An accountant's letter needs to answer whatever the receiving lender's current form asks, because no single checklist is accepted by every lender. First check whether the receiving lender requires its own current form. If it accepts a letter, the lender decides which signer details, period, income figure and basis it needs. Separately, the professional bodies' Template 2A, the Financing Accountant's Letter Template, in the joint CPA Australia, CA ANZ and IPA toolkit applicable from 1 August 2026, records the period for which the accountant compiled the accounts, the years for which returns were lodged, whether the accounts are audited, the principal sources of income, and gross taxable income after adding back non cash deductions for the last 3 years, or 5 years if the accountant compiled the accounts. It also says the accountant makes no comment on the client's ability to perform any of its obligations and accepts no liability in connection with the letter. That is professional-body guidance to members, not a universal lender form and not law.
That is where lender forms and accountants collide. A lender form that asks the accountant to confirm your income is sustainable, or that you can service the loan, asks for exactly what the professional bodies tell members to decline, and their open letter to lenders says members should not use any document provided by lenders. Broker-desk observation, September 2026: that mismatch is one reason a form can come back blank or refused on our files.
| Feature | Lender's own declaration form | Letter on letterhead | Professional bodies' template |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who sets the questions | The lender | The accountant | CPA Australia, CA ANZ and IPA |
| What figure is stated | Whatever the form asks | Whatever the accountant chooses | Gross taxable income after adding back non cash deductions, last 3 years (5 if the accountant compiled the accounts) |
| Capacity to repay wording | May be requested | May be absent | Expressly excluded |
| Liability disclaimer | Depends on the form | Depends on the accountant | Included |
| Common reason it is sent back | A question left blank or refused | Does not answer the lender's form | The lender cannot rely on it alone |
Template column: CPA Australia, CA ANZ and IPA, Accountant's Letters, Declarations and Capacity to Repay Certificates, A Toolkit for Members, August 2026, applicable from 1 August 2026, read 17 September 2026. The lender form and letterhead columns describe common practice, not any one lender's policy.
Why can a letter your accountant is happy to sign still fail with a lender?
The letter an accountant can safely sign and the letter a lender can safely rely on are not the same letter. The professional bodies say financing letters are to be declined because credit assessment is the lender's responsibility (joint toolkit, August 2026), and their CEOs' open letter to lenders, Template 6A of the August 2026 toolkit, says the determination of capacity to repay must be made by the lender. ASIC's review of low doc lending warned that lenders face a significant risk if they rely solely on a statement whose disclaimers stop it verifying the borrower's position (Report 410, 2014, a review of practices at the time). So the safe letter is often the letter that cannot stand alone.
What an accountant is permitted to sign in the first place is covered in the parent guide on what your accountant can and cannot sign.
| Source | What it says | Who it binds | As at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professional bodies' joint toolkit | Financing letters are to be declined because credit assessment is the lender's responsibility | Members of CPA Australia, CA ANZ and IPA, not lenders | Applicable from 1 August 2026 |
| Banking Code of Practice, paragraph 78 | The bank will not ask a third party such as your accountant to certify that you can repay | Code-subscribing banks on small business loans, and to guarantors under paragraph 79 | In force 28 February 2025 |
| ASIC RG 209.50 | It is not sufficient merely to rely on other persons providing true information about a consumer's financial situation | Lenders and brokers on regulated consumer credit | Modified 6 March 2025 |
| ASIC Report 410 | Lenders face a significant risk if they rely solely on accountant statements whose disclaimers stop them verifying income | No one; a review of practices at the time | September 2014 |
| High Court, Esanda Finance Corporation Ltd v Peat Marwick Hungerfords [1997] HCA 8 | Foreseeing that a financier might rely on an accountant's work is not enough on its own to create a duty of care to that financier | Australian courts, as precedent | Decided 18 March 1997 |
Sources: joint accountant's letter toolkit, August 2026; 2025 Banking Code of Practice, paragraphs 78 and 79; ASIC RG 209; ASIC Report 410; Esanda Finance Corporation Ltd v Peat Marwick Hungerfords [1997] HCA 8, (1997) 188 CLR 241. All read 17 September 2026. Professional-body guidance binds members, not lenders.
Why will my accountant not sign a letter for a home loan?
Your accountant usually cannot sign a financing letter for a home loan because a home loan is regulated consumer credit, and the professional bodies' toolkit says members cannot use their financing template for it unless they hold or are authorised under an Australian Credit Licence. The toolkit treats a statement about your ability to meet obligations to a lender as a credit service, and points members to ASIC Regulatory Guide 203, Do I need a credit licence? The toolkit distinguishes factual information from a credit opinion. With your authority, an accountant can still provide factual records such as lodged returns, BAS and prepared financial statements, subject to their professional and confidentiality obligations.
Does the Banking Code stop every lender asking for these letters?
The Banking Code does not stop every lender, because paragraph 78, which the professional bodies call clause 78, binds only Code-subscribing banks on small business loans. It says the bank will not ask a third party such as your accountant to certify that you can repay, and that the bank assesses repayment on your financial position or account conduct, taking projected cash flows into account where relevant (2025 Banking Code of Practice, in force 28 February 2025). Paragraph 79 extends the same obligation to any guarantor. The Code does not bind non-bank lenders and it does not cover personal home loans. CPA Australia's regulation and standards lead has told members the Code changes do not extend to every lender, and that for a non-bank lender CPA Australia recommends accountants decline to provide a letter (CPA Australia InPractice, 12 February 2025). That is why non-bank alt doc borrowers meet refusals most often.
What does the lender check your accountant's letter against?
The letter is one piece of evidence, and the lender reads it against your BAS, business bank statements, ABN and GST history and your lodged tax position, so a rejection usually comes from the gap between them, not from the letter alone. ASIC's own guidance lists written advice from a borrower's accountant as one possible source, alongside the business bank account, income tax assessment notices and returns, and business activity statements (ASIC RG 209.62, modified 6 March 2025, an example for regulated consumer credit, not a mandatory list).
| Evidence | What it confirms | Gap that triggers a question | Who holds the record |
|---|---|---|---|
| BAS | Reported turnover and GST | Letter income out of line with reported sales | ATO and your accountant |
| Business bank statements | Money actually received | Deposits that do not support the stated income, often personal drawings or invoice timing | Your bank |
| ABN and GST registration | How long you have traded and whether you are GST registered | Trading period shorter than the letter implies | Australian Business Register |
| Notice of assessment and lodged returns | Assessed taxable income | Letter figure far from the assessed figure with no stated basis | ATO |
| Company or trust records | Which entity earns the income | Income stated for the entity, not the borrower | ASIC and your accountant |
Where the lender needs a figure it can tie back to deposits, it tends to lean on BAS-validated trading income rather than the headline number in the letter. How BAS and bank statements are reconciled on an application is set out in the income evidence a low doc home loan relies on.
Whose income does the letter state?
Company or trust profit is not the same figure as your personal income, so a letter stating the entity's result answers the wrong question when the lender asked for yours. ASIC's worked example in RG 209.62 distinguishes the amount available to the borrower as personal income from the entity's result. A letter that answers with the wrong figure can therefore be sent back for clarification or reissue. The difference matters most for owners who leave profit in the business, which is why it helps to understand how retained earnings are read.
What if you changed from sole trader to a company or trust?
A change of legal structure can turn a simple letter problem into a trading-history question. If you moved from sole trader to a company or trust, changed ABN or ACN, or recently appointed a new accountant, the lender may need to establish whether the newer entity is a continuation of the same underlying business or a genuinely new business. That matters because lenders apply their own minimum trading-history and document rules to self-employed borrowers.
Minimum trading-history rules are set by each lender, and lenders differ on how they count history from before a change of structure, so there is no market-wide rule to apply.
If the application relies on trading history from before the restructure, make the continuity visible. The lender may need records that connect the old and new structures, such as ownership, business activity, clients, lodged returns, BAS, bank statements or financial statements. A letter that names only the new entity can be insufficient if the application also relies on the old entity's history. The detailed restructure path is covered in how lenders read a sole trader to Pty Ltd change.
What this desk sees when a letter comes back
Examples we check include a signer outside the lender's policy, a letter describing the business as one entity while the application shows another, roles that do not match the ABN or company records, entity profit where the lender asked for the borrower's own income, and a letter that never reached the assessor because the attachment was missing. Some are reissue problems; others need a different evidence path.
Desk observation, as at September 2026. This is general observation from our own files, not a prediction of how any lender will assess yours. Not financial advice.
How recent does an accountant's letter need to be?
Recent enough to cover the financial year the lender is assessing, and each lender sets that line itself. A prior-year letter can be questioned after 30 June when the lender wants evidence for the newer financial year but the new return has not yet been lodged.
No regulator or professional body publishes a validity window for an accountant's letter, so a fixed number of days quoted online reflects one lender's form, not a market rule, and the receiving lender's form governs. What is fixed is the tax calendar that decides when the new year's figures exist on paper, and the ATO publishes it.
So an application lodged in spring often sits in a gap: last year's letter describes a year that has ended, and the return that would describe it may not be lodged for months. If your tax returns are behind as well as the letter being dated, see when your tax returns are behind.
Why does a lender reject an accountant's letter sent on its own?
A lender rejects an accountant's letter sent on its own on a regulated home loan because it must take reasonable steps to verify what it is told, and a letter alone rarely does that. ASIC says it is not sufficient merely to rely on other persons providing true information about their financial situation (RG 209.50, regulated consumer credit). In its 2014 review of low doc lending, ASIC found that none of the lenders purported to rely on the consumer's own declaration to verify income (Report 410, paragraph 90, practices at the time).
A low doc loan, in Moneysmart's words, is a loan that requires less financial documentation to prove income, assets and liabilities than a standard loan (Moneysmart glossary, 23 August 2019). Less documentation still means some verification, which is why an accountant's letter normally travels with other records, as the guide on how a one doc home loan is assessed shows.
A loan genuinely for business purposes may sit outside those consumer-credit obligations, depending on the transaction, but the lender still sets its own income-verification requirements. That separate path is covered under business-purpose low doc loans.
What should you do after a lender rejects the letter?
Get the exact rejection reason before you ask your accountant for anything else, because a reissued letter fixes only some problems. There are three routes: correct the letter when the defect is the signer, form, wording, figure or date; supply a different source of income evidence when the letter cannot carry what the lender needs; or consider a different lender only after you know the receiving policy matches the evidence available. That order avoids asking the accountant to redraft the wrong document and avoids unnecessary new applications.
What if your finance or settlement deadline is close?
A rejected accountant's letter does not itself move a finance-clause date, an approval deadline or a settlement date. If the lender still needs income evidence, tell your broker or lender the contractual deadline immediately and tell your conveyancer or solicitor that finance is not yet complete. Ask the lender whether the existing application can keep moving with a corrected letter or a different accepted document before assuming you need to start again elsewhere.
If the current application cannot be repaired in time, get legal advice about the contract rather than assuming an extension is automatic. Starting with another lender can create another credit enquiry and means the new lender still has to assess the application, so a lender change is a policy solution only when the new lender's evidence rules actually fit the documents you can provide.
Fixed by a reissued letter
- Wrong or unidentified signer details
- Letterhead instead of the lender's form
- The wrong income figure for the assessment
- A letter dated before the year the lender is assessing
Not fixed by a reissued letter
- Figures that do not match your BAS or bank statements
- A lender that needs evidence the accountant will not sign
- Income that does not support the loan
- A formal servicing decline rather than a document problem
Can BAS or business bank statements replace the accountant's letter?
BAS or business bank statements can sometimes replace the accountant's letter, depending on the lender, and an alt doc home loan is built on that kind of evidence. ASIC's responsible-lending guidance lists written advice from a borrower's accountant alongside business bank accounts, income tax assessment notices and returns, and business activity statements as examples of information that can be used when verifying a consumer's financial situation. That is not a rule that every lender must accept every document or combination. If the current lender accepts another evidence path, the file may be able to continue without a replacement letter; if it does not, compare the next lender's evidence rules before another application is submitted.
Should you apply to another lender straight away?
Not until you know whether the current file can be repaired. Moving lenders can solve a genuine policy mismatch, but a new credit application can create another credit enquiry. Before authorising it, check the new lender's signer rule, form, acceptable income evidence and currency requirement against the documents you can actually supply.
If the letter was never the real problem, two other routes apply. Changing the income document path altogether is covered under choosing a different income document, and a full decline has its own sequence in the steps after a full decline. Other guides for self-employed owners sit in the Business Owners Finance Hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
An accountant's letter for a loan is a different document from a qualified accountant's certificate. The professional bodies say accountant's letters are also called accountant's declarations or, for lending, capacity to repay certificates. A qualified accountant's certificate is a Corporations Act document that lets a person be treated as a sophisticated or wholesale investor, and ASIC says it is valid for up to 2 years. That investment certificate turns on who counts as a qualified accountant.
A rejected accountant's letter can delay approval. If the lender cannot finish its income assessment of the application until a corrected letter or different evidence is supplied, the application can pause at that point. If you have a finance or settlement deadline, tell your broker or lender and your conveyancer or solicitor immediately, because the document request does not itself change the dates in your property contract.
Your accountant can refuse, and the professional bodies recommend declining financing letters. For a home loan regulated as consumer credit, their toolkit says an accountant cannot use its financing template unless they hold or are authorised under an Australian Credit Licence, or are giving purely factual information such as lodged returns, BAS and prepared financial statements. Ask the lender which factual records it accepts instead, or consider a low doc home loan assessed on other records.
There is no single accountant letter template accepted by every lender. If the receiving lender has its own current form, check that first. Separately, CPA Australia, CA ANZ and IPA publish Template 2A, the Financing Accountant's Letter Template, for situations where the accountant considers it appropriate to undertake the engagement. That professional-body template does not override the lender's policy or the accountant's credit-licensing and professional obligations.
For the letter itself, the professional bodies' Template 2A states that the accountant accepts no liability in connection with it, to the lender or anyone else. In Esanda Finance Corporation Ltd v Peat Marwick Hungerfords, the High Court held that foreseeing a financier's reliance is not enough on its own to create a duty of care to that financier. Whether your accountant is liable to you is a question for a solicitor or their professional body. What the lender controls is how it weighs a borrower self-declaration of income alongside the letter.
A CPA letter for a mortgage is an accountant's letter signed by a member of CPA Australia. Whether CPA membership is an accepted signer credential is the receiving lender's policy. That is separate from whether the accountant is legally and professionally able to provide the particular statement being requested. Check both before the letter is written.
A lender may contact your accountant or accounting practice as part of its low doc verification process and can check the Tax Practitioners Board public register where the signer is a registered tax practitioner. The accountant may need your permission before disclosing information about your affairs. What the lender asks varies by policy, and the accountant may confirm facts without giving an opinion on whether you can repay the loan. If the verification cannot be completed, the lender may ask for clarification or other evidence.
The letter being sent back is not itself a separate credit-report event. The loan application may already have produced a credit enquiry, because a credit provider's request for your report in connection with an application can be recorded as a credit enquiry on your file. A new application to another credit provider can create another enquiry, so first check whether the current application can be repaired before applying elsewhere.
A disclaimer does not automatically make an accountant's letter unusable. Whether the lender can use it depends on what the letter actually confirms, the lender's policy and the supporting evidence supplied with it. A lender may ask for BAS, bank statements, lodged returns or other records alongside the letter, which is normal on a loan assessed on less documentation, and that request does not by itself mean the application has failed.
If the lender asks for the borrower's personal income, company or trust profit is not automatically the same figure. The letter needs to state the income figure the lender's assessment is actually asking for and the basis for that figure. How profit left inside a company is treated is covered in how lenders read profit kept in the business.
The same letter may be reusable with a second lender if its signer, form, wording and currency requirements match what the letter already contains. Check those requirements before a new application is submitted, because a second credit application may create another credit enquiry. Why the major banks handle these files differently is explained in why big banks decline self-employed borrowers.
Sources
- CPA Australia, CA ANZ and IPA, Accountant's Letters, Declarations and Capacity to Repay Certificates, A Toolkit for Members, August 2026, applicable from 1 August 2026, including Template 2A and open letter Template 6A, read 17 September 2026. Professional-body guidance to members, not law.
- ASIC, Regulatory Guide 203, Do I need a credit licence?, issued 12 October 2017, updated May 2025, read 17 September 2026.
- High Court of Australia, Esanda Finance Corporation Ltd v Peat Marwick Hungerfords [1997] HCA 8, (1997) 188 CLR 241, decided 18 March 1997, read 17 September 2026.
- ASIC, Certificates issued by a qualified accountant, read 17 September 2026. Wholesale and sophisticated investor certificates, not lending.
- Australian Banking Association, 2025 Banking Code of Practice, paragraphs 78 and 79, in force 28 February 2025, read 17 September 2026. Binds Code-subscribing banks on small business lending only.
- CPA Australia InPractice, ABA scraps accountants' letters, but risks for practitioners remain, 12 February 2025, read 17 September 2026.
- ASIC, Report 410, Review of interest-only and low doc lending, 23 September 2014, read 17 September 2026. Practices at the time of the review.
- ASIC, Regulatory Guide 209, Credit licensing: Responsible lending conduct, issued 9 December 2019, modified 6 March 2025, read 17 September 2026. Regulated consumer credit.
- Tax Practitioners Board, Help using the TPB register, modified 30 March 2026, read 17 September 2026; Tax Agent Services Act 2009, compilation dated 21 February 2025, read 17 September 2026.
- ATO, Due dates for tax returns by client type: individuals and trusts, updated 1 July 2026, read 17 September 2026. Individuals and trusts only; company dates differ.
- Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, Information on your credit report, read 17 September 2026. Credit enquiries are recorded when a credit provider requests a report in connection with an application.
- Moneysmart, Loan rejection, read 17 September 2026. Repeated credit applications and next steps after a decline.
- Moneysmart, Low doc loan glossary definition, 23 August 2019, read 17 September 2026.
- Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, Responding to requests from your client's financiers, read 17 September 2026. Advises members to exercise a high degree of caution with accountant's letters.
- Tax Practitioners Board, Confidentiality of client information, read 17 September 2026. Registered tax practitioners generally require client permission before disclosing client information to a third party unless there is a legal duty to disclose.