Frequently asked questions about e-tax

Computer questions

Recommended computer requirements

We recommend that your computer meets the following requirements for you to use e-tax.

Component	Requirements
Computer processor	PC with Intel Pentium or equivalent
Operating system	Windows XP Service Pack 3 (32 bit), Vista Service Pack 2 (32 bit) or Windows 7 (32 bit or 64 bit) For other operating systems, see Information about other operating systems for e-tax users.
Browser	The lodgment process does not require browser components.
Vision impaired	Screen reader - Jaws (11.0, 12.0 or 13.0) or Window-Eyes Professional (5.5, 6.0 or 7.0) and select the vision impaired option for the vision impaired during installation Magnification software - Most commercial versions of screen magnification software should work with the standard installation of e-tax.
Other	Direct internet access, not through a proxy server Standard Windows user privileges are sufficient to run e-tax. However, to install or update the e-tax application, you will need to elevate your standard privileges to 'administrator'.

E-tax works with firewalls and uses encryption to secure your communications with us. The firewall must be configured to allow communication between us and your computer. If your network or your firewall does not allow this communication, you will not be able to use e-tax.

For more information, see E-tax firewall configuration details.

Can I use my computer at work for e-tax?

The only restriction on using e-tax in a work environment could be the configuration of the firewall for the company's network. E-tax works with firewalls and uses encryption to secure your communications with us. The firewall must be configured to allow communication between the ATO and your computer. If your network or your firewall does not allow this communication, you will not be able to use e-tax. For more information, see E-tax firewall configuration details.

Firewall configuration

If you are a systems administrator, allowing access to the ATO website for the download of e-tax and the verification and lodgment of e-tax returns will need the following firewall configuration.

To download the e-tax software, access to http port 80 must be enabled for

http://www.ato.gov.au

For all communication with e-tax to the ATO, access to https via port 443 must be enabled for

https://etaxservices12.etax.ato.gov.au

Data is transmitted using 128 bit SSL encryption.

E-tax attempts to connect directly to the internet, bypassing proxy servers.

Can I use e-tax on a computer running a Linux or an Apple Mac operating system?

E-tax is not compatible with Linux or Apple Mac operating systems. However, e-tax has previously been tested successfully on an Apple computer running OS X v10.6.3 with VMWare Fusion 3, Parallels Desktop 5 and Boot Camp software, running a recommended Windows operating system.

For more information, see Information about other operating systems for e-tax users.