At a glance
- Unlicensed financial influencers on social media increasingly influence Australians’ financial and tax decisions.
- Some finfluencers offer misleading or unlawful advice, risking legal and financial harm.
- Accountants have an opportunity to educate clients, verify credentials, and counter online misinformation.
More and more Australians appear to be paying attention to “finfluencers” – people who use social media platforms to share financial advice with the public. That’s the view of the Tax Practitioners’ Board. And it’s supported by the experience of qualified financial experts.
Many finfluencers are unlicensed and unregistered, potentially in contravention of Australian law. Further, some promote products and services that could get their followers into legal and financial trouble too.
How can accountants help prevent finfluencers from filling an advice role that their skills don’t merit?
The reach of finfluencers
Right now, finfluencers appear to be changing how Australians decide on their finances. A financial comparison site, Compare Club, says it conducted a survey that found that almost one in three Australians is being influenced on financial matters this way. And among those aged 18-24, it says, the survey found the number is closer to one in two.
Compare Club was not able to provide the questions asked in its online survey of 1000 people. But the survey does suggest finfluencers are making an impact on Australians’ view about money.
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) seems to think so too. In June 2025, ASIC joined nine regulators around the world in a week of global action against finfluencers. That follows an earlier 2022 crackdown, which ASIC says did produce a decrease in unlawful activity by finfluencers.
But more than 243 million finance videos continue to circulate on TikTok alone. And both ASIC and the Tax Practitioners Board continue to worry about the impact of finfluencers.
How finfluencers can change tax decisions
The IPA spoke with Belinda Raso – accountant, small business adviser and IPA member – about influencers’ impact on tax-related decisions, the risks for those who follow them, and how regulators are responding. She has ideas on how accountants can educate and protect their clients.
“I’ve had so many clients coming to me recently saying, ‘I’ve seen such-and-such on social media; is this right?’” says Raso.
Why is it that unlawful finfluencers, despite attempts to stop them, remain at large — and continue to have such sway over their audiences? It comes down to numbers.
“When someone has a large following — even if they don’t have any credentials — people will take whatever they say as gospel,” says Raso.
“The problem is they’re often only putting information out there to attract more followers, in order to make money.”
Finfluencers profit in a range of ways, from earning commission on products and services to charging for access to their content.
Further, finfluencers can be highly persuasive. They may speak in confident tones, share photos of themselves on luxurious holidays, and explain finances simply.
Note that this last characteristic, in particular, need not be a bad thing: many influencer explanations are accurate, according to Australian Financial Review contributor and financial adviser Tim Mackay. He watched 100 finance videos on TikTok to assess their helpfulness. And he reported that a substantial majority in fact were useful.
But Mackay also reported that a small minority were “rambling, pure sales or just bizarre”.
From tax-deductible dogs to debt recycling: examples of misleading advice
Come tax time, some finfluencers grab attention with wild declarations about deductions. Among them are claims that deductions may be made for pets that act as guard dogs while taxpayers work from home, for designer handbags used as laptop bags, and for thousands of dollars worth of petrol without receipts.
Some unqualified finfluencers go further, hosting live streaming sessions about how to complete tax returns, says Raso.
“Then there are sovereign citizens who claim to be accountants, telling people not to pay tax, or not to submit their returns at all.”
Other common examples of misleading advice include flawed directions for structuring companies and dangerous schemes for managing debt.
“I’ve seen finfluencers telling people to set up a proprietary limited [company], then take out as much money as they like from the business, and pay only 25% tax on it, which is absolutely not permitted,” says Raso.
“As an industry, we should be outnumbering [unlicensed finfluencers], to improve our name and reputation.”
“In the past two months, 20 or 30 people have asked me about debt recycling. It seems to be a popular word going around Facebook.
“People think they can offset their own property, even if it’s not an income-producing asset, which they can’t. They’re not reducing their debt; they’re making it worse.”
Legal and financial repercussions for tax-payers
“We keep enforcing in our social media videos that the responsibility is on the taxpayer,” says Raso.
Where deductions are nonsensical but minor, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is likely to knock them back.
However, in cases of more complex, calculated or costly errors, taxpayers could face unexpected tax bills, fines, a criminal record or even imprisonment.
In addition, they may inadvertently break not only taxation law but also company law.
How have regulatory bodies responded?
As part of its 2022 crackdown, ASIC privately briefed 30 finfluencers and also issued an information sheet outlining finfluencers’ legal obligations. And in December of that year ASIC won a Federal Court case against finfluencer Tyson Robert Scholz.
June 2025 saw another ASIC blitz, with warning notices sent to 19 unlawful finfluencers.
ASIC is not the only regulatory body to have responded. In May 2025, the Tax Practitioners Board warned the public that heeding finfluencers’ tax advice could “cost you thousands”.
However, in Raso’s eyes, regulators haven’t gone far enough. “At the moment, there’s no requirement that people giving financial advice on social media list their qualifications, licence or registration,” she says.
“What could help is the bodies getting together and insisting that finfluencers must list their official status on their profiles. Then, they should let the community know this is what they should be looking for. This would weed out a lot of problem people.”
Tips for accountants for educating and protecting clients
The Tax Practitioners Board shares several tips for identifying unlawful finfluencers.
Accountants should start by warning clients to be wary of finfluencers giving free advice, particularly when it seems too good to be true.
It’s essential to check a finfluencer’s credentials. Those who are not registered tax practitioners are not lawfully authorised to give tax advice.
In addition, accountants should remind clients there’s no requirement for influencers to publish their qualifications, licence or registration on social media – and the size of a finfluencer’s following is no indicator of their capacity to give advice lawfully, says Raso.
“You might have to take time out of your business to do it, but being an accountant isn’t just about doing compliance. We’re also here to give back to the community by educating.”
Educating clients about copycats is also important. “They’re finfluencers who use a handle, messaging and imagery very similar to those of a legitimate accountant or financial adviser,” says Raso.
“Sometimes they even steal content, such as videos. Tax agents should tell their clients that there’s only one of them, and that they won’t approach clients to sell products, such as cryptocurrency and investments.”
Beating them at their own game
Another way that accountants can help stem the finfluencer tide is by changing their own attitude to financial education – and perhaps becoming more active on social media themselves.
“One of the first things new clients say, when they come to me after following influencers, is, ‘I learned more from one video than I have from my accountant in 12 months’,” says Raso.
“Accountants tend to think of themselves as mere processors of data – that they’re the ones who should be asking questions, not the clients. This can lead people to think they’re not getting much for their money, so they do their tax returns themselves.”
It’s time for accountants to change this mindset, by looking for more opportunities to add value, she says — and social media is an ideal channel.
“There are too many cowboys out there doing the wrong thing,” says Raso.
“As an industry, we should be outnumbering them, to improve our name and reputation.
“You might have to take time out of your business to do it, but being an accountant isn’t just about doing compliance. We’re also here to give back to the community by educating.
“Social media can be positive or negative, but it’s the way of the future.”
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