Last day for tax and BAS agent portals, with agents urged to make the switch

Earlier this month, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) announced that its portals have not been updated with new services for several months, and with major systems upgrades commencing shortly, they will soon no longer carry accurate information.

According to the Tax Office, over 70 per cent of tax agents are currently using Online services for agents, meaning that some one in three tax agents are yet to transition.

“We understand the decision may disrupt your business and we have sought to minimise any impacts through extensive co-design with you, and running the systems in parallel over the last couple of months,” said the ATO.

It added that the closure of the portals allows them to focus solely on supporting Online services for agents.

The ATO earlier acknowledged, however, that some functions in Online services for agents are not yet the same or better than the tax and BAS agent portals.

“As we work on this, we continue to welcome your feedback about how we can further improve the service.”

Some portal services the ATO is working on as a priority to provide in the first half of 2020 or sooner include deceased estates, tax type summary reports, non- lodgement advice for non-individuals, and activity statement account transactions navigation.

“We will work to ensure our website is up to date with information about the services available through Online services for agents or the PLS,” the ATO said.

Online services for agents is a new secure system to access services agents use in the tax and BAS agent portals.