Tax Agent Portal – A Long Road To Damascus

Media Statement - 30 September 2002

The Tax Agent Portal, to be launched by the ATO this week, will not by itself solve the current crisis in tax administration, although it will provide some interim relief to thousands of tax agents drowning in paper work and frustrated with the system.

The Tax Agent Portal aims to provide a customised website for tax agents.

It will commence with a restricted functionality and will provide only a limited range of information to tax agents in relation to their clients' accounts.

It also provides a limited one-way email system for tax agents to raise client issues with the ATO, who will respond later by letter. This system must not be allowed to become part of a "don't call us we'll call you" approach by the ATO and its relationship with the tax agents.

Essentially, it is intended to reduce the number of phone calls by tax agents to the ATO.

When the Tax Agent Portal is fully developed it should save tax agents' time and their clients' money but it will be quite some time before it reaches it's potential.

It will be a long time before there is substantial improvement in the service provided to tax agents by the ATO, after the dramatic increase in complexity and workload resulting from the Howard Government's new tax system.

Whilst the portal is a welcome initiative, the Government must recognise that it is carrying only a fraction of the cost of the compliance burden associated with the new tax system and give priority to developing a more user-friendly interface with tax payers and their agents.

Revenue Minister, Senator Coonan, should avoid hubris about what the ATO is doing for tax agents and recognise there is a long way to go.