The move comes after the ATO stopped issuing paper Installment Activity Statements (IAS) for the December 2020 quarter following the decommissioning of a legacy ATO system known as the Electronic Commerce Interface.
Tax practitioners have instead been instructed to access these installment notices through their PLS software or online agent services “three to four days after the activity record creation date”, while self-bookers can access the installment notices through their myGov account.
Speaking to Accountants Daily, the Tax Institute’s lead counsel, Robyn Jacobson, said the decision to stop paper notifications did not go down well with practitioners, who often see the arrival of a paper IAS as a means of customer retention and a reminder of compliance benefit from payment obligations.
Practitioners were also concerned about the lack of notification of the generation or issuance of an IAS and the inability for them to access a list of clients who have an IAS due for payment.
While agents can get the information themselves via a report that notifies them of upcoming commitments, they don’t get a notification.
“To date there has been no direct communication from the ATO to taxpayers or tax practitioners about the changes so they have been a bit unclear as to what‘happened and why,” said Ms. Jacobson.
“There needs to be some form of notification either when an activity record is made or shortly thereafter.
“The missing link right now is the failure to communicate that these statements exist.”
interim solution
Following feedback from the profession, the ATO has agreed to send communications on paper until a digital solution can be implemented.
“They have confirmed that they will be sending out paper notifications for future quarterly installments until they can implement a digital solution,” Ms. Jacobson said.
“It won‘It shouldn’t be a permanent setup as they won’t work in the long run‘We don’t want to send out paper notifications, but they have come to realize that there needs to be a process to let people know they have an obligation due.”
Reminders for the December quarter of 2020 will be emailed to remind taxpayers that their PAYG installment is due on March 2nd.
“The goal right now is to make sure people are meeting their commitments for the December quarter and making sure we have a working system until the digital solution can be implemented,” she added.
“We worked with the ATO and then with the other professional bodies to come up with a viable, practical solution as quickly as possible. In the meantime, we welcome the interim solution.”
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