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The ATO must make client-agent linking simpler or face mounting tax debt and unfiled returns, the ICB says.
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Businesses threaten: No more tax until client linking fix
02 February 2024
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Angry businesses are threatening to boycott filing tax returns until the ATO simplifies the revised client-agent linking system, according to the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers.
Executive director Matthew Addison said the process was so “cumbersome and antiquated” that it had driven a “significant” number of business owners to give up and declare “no more tax”.
“Business owners are saying it is just too hard, so I won’t lodge my taxes; no more BAS, no more payroll lodgements, no more tax payments until the ATO allows the agent to be connected,” he said.
The ATO had failed to appreciate the scale of the problems client-agent linking (CAL) had caused since becoming mandatory on November 13, he said.
“We don’t believe the ATO are seeing the larger number of disgruntled taxpayers and now agents,” he said.
“Our community of bookkeepers and accountants deal with many who are not so connected and who are definitely not computerised. We deal with the clients who do not want to deal with the ATO themselves.”
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The multi-step process made clients responsible for linking their myGovID app to their ABN before nominating their agent on the ATO’s “Online Services for Business” portal.
Businesses that attempted the process on their own spent “many hours of unnecessary and exorbitant time” and ran into problems such as not having a myGovID or updating their ABNs on the Australian Business Register.
Mr Addison quoted one business giving up in frustration as saying: “Over the last four days I have spent hours and I keep running into brick walls … we will need to put things on hold.”
Businesses that were “less computerised” preferred to leave administrative tasks to their tax agents, but in many cases client-agent linking had even proved to be too burdensome for the professionals.
“Agents report: ‘This is getting crazy. I’ve got a new client who is also having issues and is about ready to disengage our services cause it’s getting too hard,’ ” Mr Addison said.
Another had said: “I lost a client this week to the existing accountant they wanted to leave, as it was the ‘easier’ option.”
As reported by Accountants Daily yesterday, tax agents have called the system an administrative “nightmare” and a “serious obstacle” when engaging new clients.
CPA Australia senior policy manager Gavan Ord said the ATO’s staff were insufficiently trained to deal with the problems raised by agents.
Mr Addison said the growing “disconnect” between the ATO and taxpayers “will be seen for some time”.
“The amount of tax debt will increase and the number of non-lodged forms will increase. There will be less compliance because the system is too hard.”
He said the system should be overhauled in favour of a “consent model”, where agents were responsible for initiating the linking process. It was a “better answer” that would solve the security problem.
“It’s unfortunate the ATO hasn’t been able to implement the alternative (better) solutions yet and it’s very unfortunate that the consequence is very annoyed taxpayers who are disconnecting from the tax system,” he said.
“I expect that in response the ATO will quote statistics of a large number of successful appointments and the results of their ‘trial’ which was only for the big end of town and the very computerised and connected businesses.”
The ATO was contacted for comment.
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