ATO readies for ramped-up myGovID push

With AUSkey the only authentication process available for the old tax and BAS agent portals, agents will have just over six months to jump on board the new online services for agents before AUSkey is phased out.

Accountants Daily understands 160 agents are currently taking part in the private beta trial to access online services for agents using myGovID, with the ATO set to open it up to public beta next month.

Agents can currently use myGovID to access the ATO Business Portal, the ATO Access Manager and the Australian Business Register (ABR).

“We’ve got the pieces of the puzzle in place to start our ramp-up strategy and you’ll see more under way; we are looking at a public release sometime in October,” said Claire Miller, ATO’s digital program delivery lead.

MyGovID is currently available for download from Apple’s App Store for iPhone 6 and above, with the Android version set to be available from the Google Play Store in October.

Ms Miller said agents can expect to hear more from the ATO in the coming weeks as it looks to help agents make the transition over to myGovID.

“You will start to see a lot more communication from us,” Ms Miller said.

“We’re increasing our engagements, we’ll increase our key messages, having webinars, and the open forums have for some time been providing this message, so we’ll start to increase that as well.”