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The ATO’s resolve to upgrade its systems is clear, but the knowledge and resourcing gaps with infrastructure is creating anxiety about the “next big outage” for small-firm public accountants in particular.
‘It’s a case of if, not when’: ATO disconnect stirs outage anxiety
13 February 2018
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7 minute read
Mirroring PwC’s assessment of the ATO’s 2016 digital meltdown, the Institute of Public Accountants’ chief executive Andrew Conway said he’s sceptical about the tax office’s ability to resolve its information and communication technology (ICT) issues in the short to mid term.
“It’s not for a lack of will, certainly from the commissioner, that the issues are ongoing — but they are,” Mr Conway told Accountants Daily.
“Now this is particularly a problem for small practices — the anxiety levels around the stability of the system, the portal, the reliability of the server infrastructure is often high,” Mr Conway said.
“Among some members, there is a sense of anxiety about when the next outage will occur. But we can’t say to those members it’s not a case of ‘if’ because it really is a case of ‘when’ right now,” he said.
Mr Conway supports increased funding for the ATO, particularly as ICT resolutions become “a matter of urgency.” In its latest annual report, the ATO outlined funding struggles related to audit liabilities, a decrease in debt collection activities due to the lead-up to an ATO system upgrade in November 2016, and its widespread digital failure in 2016.
“I don't think there'd be anyone objectively looking at the ATO's issues and ICT issues, and saying that it shouldn't have access to the appropriate level of resources and funding to deliver the outcome,” Mr Conway said.
“We feel our role is to add the member and practitioner perspective, and drive home to government that this is a very real issue, and that ICT investment is an ongoing concern for the sector,” he said.
“We need to make sure that the ATO, as a critical government agency, has access to the resources and the appropriate level of funding to deliver on the outcome,” he said.
Small and sole practitioner firms were particularly distressed during the outages which spanned December 2016 to February 2017, in particular those with a heavy focus on income tax matters. Practices like Wollongong-based Freeman took a bottom line hit, according to principal Gail Freeman.
“It's impacted on our earnings because when you're a small practice, there is a significant impact,” Ms Freeman told Accountants Daily at the time.
“It certainly has impacted earnings over December and January, no question.”
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- Frustrated Tax Agent
The ATO systems are like a balloon once you squeeze one end to so called fix a problem, because of the size and complexity some other problem will pop out the other end without fail, no matter how small or large!! Take for example CCL when it was initially introduced a real issue requiring redevelopment and deployment, what about the new simplified, you beaut more contemporary Activity Statements \ BAS issued last July 2017, a real mess initially and still a problem now!! These continuing badly designed and implemented projects are impacting us on a daily basis killing our productivity and our cash flow this is totally and utterly irresponsible and just not fair. Can we get someone to get this sorted! As we continue to have more and more practitioners on the PLS gravy train we are certainly going to experience more and more issues. As an example we cannot lodge Activity statements via PLS so we lodge ELS NO PROBLEM! One of our staff has tried in vain this afternoon to lodge two Individual ITR's a number of times via PLS and still no lodgement success? Where are we all going.................to hell in a hand basket!!............do not say we did not tell you??????? Good Luck!!!0 - Frustrated Tax Agent
0 - Andrew Conway is absolutely correct, and a lone wolf among the professional bodies providing advocacy in this area.
The ATO have for years provided a decrepit Tax Agent Portal, that has frequently suffered outages and response time issues, along with the perennial flawed information (incomplete as that information is).
The ATO is promising the new, replacement ATO Online will be our saviour, and the future.
But after years of missteps and outages and consistent IT failures, what expectation can we have.
The new Practitioner Lodgement System (PLS), is a case in point. As reported in a leading tax news service 10 days ago, the ATO is pushing more return types (companies, individuals) to PLS, whilst it is increasingly unreliable. Latest figures from the ATO reflect 16.9% of all lodgement attempts by Agents, are not being accepted / processed by the ATO.
And just look at the rollout of other new systems such as Single Touch Payroll (STP), the Client Correspondence List (CCL) debacle, and any other ‘reinvention’, or ‘digital disruption’ the ATO have tried.
The only reliable IT the ATO have provided in the last 20 years is the ‘old’ lodgement system, ELS. It has multiple redundancy, has been highly stable, and will be seen to be a great time saver for tax professionals compared to the mess that PLS now provides.
So just one system has worked – and the ATO is getting rid of it.
For the ATO to start getting its systems to work, would need to be an about face on everything that has happened over the last 10 years.
Yet while the ATO ties agents up in knots and with failing technologies and reverse workflows of error after error, they provide a ‘wonderful, free and easy’ lodgement experience via myTax, so people who have no idea about tax and the nuances of tax laws can lodge their incorrect and incomplete income tax returns via an app on their phone, whilst sitting by the pool, renting out their home via Airbnb and failing to report their income, or partial capital gains on their home, or failing to report their spouse, or failing to properly report private health insurance disclosures, or over-claiming work related expenses, or missing critical employee share scheme reporting, or properly accounting for share disposals subject to years of DRPs. Oh, but myTax is easy, and the ATO’s own video says that the software will tell you in real time if you make an error. Oh sure!
And as we saw in Accountants Daily on 12 February 2018 (www.accountantsdaily.com.au/tax-complian...ficant-policy-change), the prospect of a Labor Government introducing a $3000 per annum deduction cap on tax agent fees will be devastating for tax professionals tied up in multiple ATO systems that do not work, making many professional practices uneconomic.
Just how can tax professionals – who protect the tax system better than the ATO – take care of clients properly and compete against a free tax product provided by the ATO that encourages novices to do their own lodgements?
At least we have one professional body ringing the bell, and this forum in Accountants Daily to expose the reality.
0- Couldn't agree more. Currently unable to lodge. ELS doesn't work. ATO aren't resourcing it because it's being phased out. Software provider says it's Cisco ATO problem. No one is home at the ATO. Talk about cash flow problem!0
- It would be interesting to see how they came up with 16.9% lodgement issues on the PLS. Up until 3 weeks ago, I thought it was OK, but since then I'm experiencing up to 1/3 rejection with no error message recorded - simply "rejected" with no explanation. Often it will then take 3 or 4 or 5 attempts to lodge the rejected return before it eventually goes through. Sounds like more than 16.9% to me?0
