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The ATO has defended its use of technology, telling tax agents they must understand the evolving environment and modify their practices accordingly.
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ATO responds to practitioners' technology concerns
22 October 2015
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8 minute read
Following a recent AccountantsDaily poll in which more than 80 per cent of accountants claimed the ATO’s use of technology is costing them productivity, Colin Walker – the ATO's assistant commissioner, practitioner risk and consultation / tax practitioner, lodgement strategy and compliance support – said technology is driving change across the profession and accountants must “modify” their practices accordingly.
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“Taxpayer expectations are changing, businesses are increasingly operating across different countries, and people are expecting to complete tasks online and at their own convenience,” Mr Walker said.
“The ATO is increasingly using technology to meet those expectations and to support practitioners in their agent/client relationships. However, tax practitioners also need to understand the changing environment and modify their practices to continue to add value to their clients.
“To support tax professionals during these changes and meet their needs, we are working in partnership with them, their professional associations and software developers to co-design our interactions and ensure the changes in our technology align to the best extent possible with the processes used in their practices,” he said.
Mr Walker acknowledged “significant issues” with the ATO Portal, but said the tax office is doing all it can to address the situation, committing a “great deal of resources” to correct current problems.
“We recognise the tax and BAS agent portals are an invaluable tool for them and we will continue to offer this service. However, as the portals were built on an older technology platform, this has limited our ability to build new functionality and has caused instability and slowness. We are thus progressively building the services and functionality currently available on the portal onto a more reliable technology platform,” Mr Walker said.
“We acknowledge that there have been significant issues with some of the portal functionality throughout this year. This has not created a good experience for tax practitioners and in some cases has led to lost productivity and certainly a great deal of frustration. But we have listened and understood the issues and concerns and have placed a great deal of resources into correcting issues and supporting tax practitioners,” he said.
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