ATO to focus on upping reliance on its digital services

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has outlined its technology priorities for 2019 and beyond, which will see it take a new approach to working with product and service providers across the full range of its information technology activities.

“We have a clear path of work ahead of us, with our first focus on finalising the move of tax agent and intermediary portals to the ATO online services platform," chief information officer Ramez Katf said in an ATO press statement.

“As well as delivering that vital piece of work, we will be developing our new e-commerce platform, supporting the next stage of SuperStream and Single Touch Payroll and supporting the modernisation of the Australian Business Registry.”

He explained that ATO successfully wrapped up tax time, with high levels of online usage, strong service availability and faster processing times than ever before.

“This demonstrates that our work to improve system performance and reliability is on the right track as we deliver on our vision for 2024,” Mr Katf said, adding that the Tax Office will also evolve its approach to IT sourcing.

“In line with the government’s IT procurement policy, we will split our IT contracts into smaller, more specifically targeted bundles.

“This allows us to reach a wider market of specialist providers for each service and ensure we’re engaging the right expertise.

“We expect to gradually approach the market for each bundle over the next three years, with exact timelines to be determined by a number of factors, including business priorities and the expiry of existing contracts.”

More detail will be provided on each bundle as the ATO approaches the market.

“I look forward to seeing the market’s response as we progress,” Mr Katf said.