The chair welcomed members and guests of the North Queensland Forum, and confirmed the agenda for the meeting.
The minutes of the previous Nth QLD RTPWG held 20 April 2011 have been approved and distributed and published on the ATO website.
The chair advised that the outstanding action items from the Nth QLD RTPWG of April 2011 have been progressed, as detailed below. The response to action item 20042011/1 is not yet available and will be provided in the minutes.
Action item
|
12102010/7
|
Description
|
The secretariat to escalate members concerns about TAP messages for maintenance shutdowns etc.
|
Responsibility
|
Julie Duncan
|
Due date
|
Completed
|
ATO response
The ATO usually provides agents with information about portal performance through two channels:
The systems maintenance and issues pages will list periods of scheduled maintenance for the portal. They are periods during which the portal will be unavailable. Known system problems are also listed separately, with advice to agents about navigation around the problems where this is possible.
The portal's key updates provides details of impaired performance or lost functions during scheduled and unscheduled outages. Generally a message is posted a day or two before scheduled outages and immediately when an unexpected portal outage occurs.
Occasionally there will be unexpected problems with portal access or functions. Often these are dealt with quickly. In the case of severe problems likely to affect the system for a significant length of time the ATO will use broadcasts to alert agents. Broadcasts are impractical in situations where correction of problems is likely within a short period of time, due to the fact that the lead time for broadcasts is often longer than the outage. Provided access to the portal is possible, we update the key updates on the portal's welcome screen whenever issues arise.
Action item
|
20042011/1
|
Description
|
The secretariat to seek a response to members concerns regarding what longer term assistance will be available to businesses affected (directly or indirectly) by the natural disasters.
|
Responsibility
|
Julie Duncan
|
Due date
|
Completed
|
Updated subsequent to meeting
ATO response
The ATO is able to help those who have had their business records lost or destroyed as a result of Cyclone Yasi in early 2011. We are able to replace certain records, such as lodged income tax returns and activity statements, which were destroyed. The recently-released Practice Statement PS LA 2011/25 details how the ATO is also able to assist with making reasonable estimates for those affected by natural disasters, which will enable activity statements and income tax returns to be lodged.
The ATO is currently scoping the need and requirement for additional, tailored assistance that may be needed for businesses in the cyclone-affected region. This will be finalised shortly, with all recommendations being actioned and implemented as soon as practicable.
Taxpayers with debt
We take an empathetic approach to taxpayers affected directly or indirectly by natural disasters, based on a consideration of their individual circumstances.
Our immediate response to natural disasters is to offer a range of practical support, including:
- suspending debt collection activity in affected areas
- giving affected taxpayers more time to meet lodgment and payment obligations
- allowing affected taxpayers extra time to pay debts
- remitting interest or penalties where appropriate.
In the longer term we take a cautious approach to the resumption of debt collection in affected areas and continue to provide support for those taxpayers still experiencing financial difficulties as a result of the natural disaster.
This longer term support includes:
For those taxpayers known to be highly impacted (either because they applied to Centrelink for disaster payments or contacted us regarding their situation) we attempt to contact them before resuming normal debt collection activity. We advise staff to take a careful approach and ensure that any taxpayer affected by a natural disaster has the opportunity to provide information about the ongoing impact of the disaster on them or their businesses.
For further information go to www.ato.gov.au and search for:
- Difficulty in paying your tax debt (individual clients)
- Difficulty in paying your tax debt (business clients).
Action item
|
20042011/2
|
Description
|
The chair to provide statistics and data around the break up of superannuation guarantee complaints received by employer size/market.
|
Responsibility
|
Karen Wantling
|
Due date
|
Completed
|
ATO response
Details of the number of superannuation guarantee employee notifications received by business for the last three financial years, with their breakdown by market segment are as follows:
Business market segment
|
EN 2008-09
|
EN 2009-10
|
EN 2010-11
YTD 31 May
|
Grand total
|
Government
Individuals
Large
Micro
Not for profit
SME
No ER details
|
68
125
321
12,865
304
4,749
2
|
46
40
233
12,644
242
4,896
563
|
58
26
189
10,964
208
4,248
486
|
172
191
743
36,473
754
13,893
1,051
|
|
|
18,434
|
18,664
|
16,179
|
53,277
|
Action item
|
20042011/4
|
Description
|
The secretariat to seek a response regarding the ATO sending a letter to non-GST registered taxpayers when income exceeds the registration threshold.
|
Responsibility
|
Julie Duncan
|
Due date
|
Completed
|
ATO response
An entity is required to apply for registration for goods and services tax (GST) within 21 days of becoming required to be registered, under section 25-1 of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999. Penalties apply for failure to register within the required timeframe, of 20 penalty units (currently $2,200) under section 288-40 of Schedule 1 to the Taxation Administration Act 1953. The ATO currently detects non-compliance with registration obligations by a number of means, including by community information received, by selection of candidates for our cash economy Obligations Support Visits Program and by third-party checks arising from other compliance work.
The ATO has the capacity to identify taxpayers likely to be required to register for GST from income tax return information and other data matching sources, and we will be piloting a strategy in 2011-12 to approach small businesses whose income tax return information indicates they are likely to be required to register for GST, under our Small Business Assistance Program. This may be delivered either by a mail or telephone campaign. The Small Business Assistance Program is aimed at assisting small business taxpayers to comply with their obligations.
Action item
|
20042011/6
|
Description
|
The secretariat to escalate members concerns regarding the duplication in the request for the tax agent number frequently experienced by agents during the proof of identity (POI) process when using the tax agent 13 72 86 number.
|
Responsibility
|
Julie Duncan
|
Due date
|
Completed
|
ATO response
To provide a 'premium service' to tax practitioners the ATO has an automated system which prompts the practitioner to enter their tax agent number (TAN). The caller's details are then presented to the Customer Service Representative (CSR) when the call comes through. As with all computer technology there can be instances when this information does not appear and the CSR has to ask the caller for the TAN.
In addition if the practitioner has used one of our self help services, such as payment arrangement, the caller would have entered the taxpayers tax file number (TFN) rather than their own TAN. If there were issues processing the arrangement and the call dropped out to queue the CSR would be presented with the taxpayers details and would need to ask the practitioner for the TAN so the activity could be associated with the practice.
In the majority of instances the CSR would not need to ask for the TAN.
Action item
|
20042011/7
|
Description
|
The secretariat to seek a response to the members query regarding ability to lodge CGT amendments electronically.
|
Responsibility
|
Julie Duncan
|
Due date
|
Completed
|
ATO response
With the introduction of the non-individual amendment functionality into ELS from 1 July 2011, changes have been implemented that now allow amendments to schedules for individual taxpayers. This change is for the 2011 income tax return and subsequent years.
Action item
|
20042011/8
|
Description
|
The secretariat to seek a response to the members query regarding incorrect lodgment due dates showing on the TAP.
|
Responsibility
|
Julie Duncan
|
Due date
|
As soon as possible
|
ATO response
In progress
Action item
|
20042011/9
|
Description
|
The secretariat to seek a update on the current status of the re-write of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 into the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.
|
Responsibility
|
Julie Duncan
|
Due date
|
Completed
|
ATO response
This issue is not a matter for the ATO, but rather is a question that is best directed to the Treasury. The question looks like it relates to the old Tax Law Improvement Project established by government in the 1990s. The Treasury, not the ATO, has responsibility for preparing tax legislation.
Jodie Hurry provided members with an update of the Pre-filling initiatives and the key enhancements for 2011 which include:
- Information from Centrelink about periods taxpayers were registered for family tax benefit part A which will assist in determining eligibility for the education tax refund.
- Parental leave payments made by Centrelink. Payments from employers will be included as part of gross amount of salary or wages - not identified separately.
- Employee share scheme (ESS) details.
- Foreign employment income payment summaries.
- Tax-free pensions from Centrelink and the Department of Veterans' Affairs.
- We are also piloting the provision of some share disposal transactions to remind taxpayers about capital gains tax events which may have occurred during the year.
- Disposals for the period 1 July 2010 to 31 December 2010 are already available.
- Disposals for the period 1 January 2011 to 30 June 2011 will be available as they are reported.
- Not all transactions will be included in this pilot.
- Law changes enable earlier reporting of data for pre-filling - Payers now only have to refund an amount withheld in error if notified of, or becoming aware of, the error by 30 June of the relevant financial year. This means that payers lodging reports for the year ended 30 June 2011, and later years, will not need to wait until 21 July to confirm payments such as interest, or salary and wages.
Nth QLD RTPWG members offered the following comments:
- Members were keen to progress further enhancements to the pre-filling capability, and highlighted the importance of accurate data to minimise reverse work-flows.
- Data currently showing for client share transactions is proving to be accurate and is most helpful in prompting agents to seek further information from those clients that may not recall having sold shares.
Members were encouraged to provide additional feedback regarding pre-filling, via the forum secretariat.
Paul Kruspe - Assistant Commissioner, Debt, Risk Intelligence & Reporting, provided an overview of the ATO's current approach to debt collection, including information on strategies and processes related to garnishees, insolvency and various penalties.
Important points included:
- Micro businesses account for approx 2/3rd of collectible debt.
- We have a balanced approach to differentiate clients; we aim to assist those working with us and be firm but fair with those that choose not to work with us or who don't have the capacity to pay.
- We want to engage taxpayers early when they experience debt issues, to try and obtain payment in full or make a sustainable payment arrangement.
- We have flexibility in our payment arrangements and try to align these with the business cash flow, and where appropriate we will remit interest charges.
- We have found it is more effective to address the debt early, and key elements are early intervention and then ongoing engagement, however we will take timely further action if people are not working with us to clear the debt.
- Taxpayers will always be notified before we take firmer action.
- Further action may include garnishee and director penalty notices.
- Insolvency action is very limited, and only pursued where all other options have been exhausted.
Paul also discussed our approach to those taxpayers that are affected as a result of natural disasters, including:
- Our immediate approach to identify the postcodes/localities and in the immediate hours/days quarantine that area to prevent letters/contact if the scale of the disaster warrants it.
- Stop debt collection calls for a period of time, so that people can concentrate on reconstruction or other priorities.
- Depending on the natural disaster that area might be quarantined for a short period or quite a long period.
In the longer term, once quarantines are lifted we may start contacting taxpayers in these areas and our staff are attuned to asking appropriate questions re the status of their business. We take into account the persons situation and understand what their situation is regarding cash flow and what it may be over the coming months or years. It is important taxpayers inform us of their whole situation.
Members query
Agents are finding that recent changes to the proof of identity (POI) procedures when calling regarding their clients are time consuming and inconvenient and sometimes causing difficulties for agents in being able to meet the additional requirements.
ATO response
Heather McCafferty from ATO client account services addressed the forum and provided an update on changes to the POI procedures.
The presentation included:
- The current POI procedures.
- The changes that were recently implemented.
- The rationale and intent behind the changes.
Members of the Nth QLD RTPWG offered the following comments and suggestions:
- Concern that ATO outbound call officers ask for the TFN of the client they are calling about (this may lead to fraudsters undertaking similar calls and obtaining confidential information).
- ATO officers often insist on speaking to the principle and will not complete POI with and talk to support staff; this often leads to the need for the principle to call the ATO back when free and they then have to wait on hold and/or speak to a different officer to the one who originally called, wasting time and causing frustration.
- New clients often fail the POI process as the agent does not have access to the information that the ATO officer is requesting.
- There are numerous instances where ATO officers refuse to leave their name or team name/location, making return calls time consuming and difficult to complete.
- Some agents do not retain any correspondence, it is all sent directly to the client. This makes POI difficult.
- Often calls are in relation to debt and the agent does not deal with the ATO on behalf of their client re debt; previous suggestions have been made of having an indicator on ATO systems to show who the ATO should call to discuss debt.
- ATO officers could at least state what the issue is (that is, debt) when they leave messages requesting return calls.
- Agents be issued with a 'code' which can be used as POI.
- When agents provide the reference number previously given to them by an ATO officer this should be accepted as meeting POI to discuss that issue on return calls.
- Other options discussed included the possibility of sending/receiving of an email or of a secure message through the Tax Agent Portal.
Members stated they understand the need for increased POI by ATO officers when receiving inbound calls from agents now that tax agent registered numbers are more widely accessible to the public; however members feel that outbound calls made by the ATO should not require such stringent POI checks as the ATO has called the number recorded for that agent on ATO systems and the agent would have identified themselves or their practice when answering the call, so this should be sufficient in these instances as used to be the case.
Members were advised that specific examples where POI could not be met can be forwarded to Heather McCafferty via the secretariat.
Action item
|
19072011/1
|
Description
|
The secretariat to forward emails to Heather from forum members re examples where they are experiencing difficulties with the updated POI procedures. Heather will follow up on the issues raised today by members and provide a response to the forum.
|
Responsibility
|
Julie Duncan
|
Due date
|
As soon as possible
|
ATO response
In progress
The following ATPF members' agenda items were raised for regional input and discussion:
- Update on Tax Agent Portal (TAP) outages and system issues.
- Concerns about direct contact with clients of tax agents.
Please refer to Attachment A: ATPF agenda items, for a full explanation of the issues.
Comments and feedback were sought from North Queensland RTPWG Members.
Members of the Nth QLD RTPWG offered the following:
- we haven't experienced too many issues and have a large number of staff
- the accessibility is brilliant however the reliance on the information is a question, refer our action item from last meeting regarding incorrect lodgment due dates.
The majority of members raised concerns regarding the large number of clients currently incorrectly showing in the TAP as having a lodgment due date of 31 October when this should be 15 May next year. It was accepted that messages have been received from the ATO regarding this issue, which is expected to be fixed by the end of July so that all lodgment due dates are showing correctly.
Members accepted that the ELS reports are correct, however the majority stated that tax agents use and rely on the TAP and this issue is affecting their ability to plan their 2011 tax time lodgment programme, as it is unclear exactly who is due for lodgment 31 October and who should really be showing as 15 May next year.
Members also stated that tax agents do not have the time to call the ATO re individual clients or to spend time looking at each client to determine the correct date for themselves, they should be able to produce a reliable report from the TAP that shows this detail.
Members of the Nth QLD RTPWG offered the following:
Many have not experienced this problem.
Some mentioned that now and again clients have been contacted directly.
One member stated this is very rare, but when it does happen is not very pleasant, for example there have been instances recently regarding letters to clients in relation to cash economy letters. Members agreed with the suggested treatment of at least a one week time lag between the letter to the agent first before a letter issues to the client.
A member suggested letters to clients could include a standard comment to the effect that they may wish to contact their tax agent, as some clients may think they need to contact the ATO when they don't necessarily need to.
The following late items were raised during the meeting.
7.1 Tax agent details on the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) website
Members query
Some members expressed concern that some registered agents and/or firms are not appearing in the search results when people use the search engine on the TPB website to find an agent in their area.
ATO response
The Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) is established by the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA 2009) and is a separate statutory body to the Australian Taxation Office.
The TASA 2009 requires the Board to maintain a register of registered tax agents and BAS agents; which register can be accessed from the TPB website.
Any queries in relation to information on the register or the search engine used on the TPB website should be addressed directly to the TPB.
7.2 Superannuation co-contribution labels on the income tax return (ITR) for individuals
Members query
New labels were introduced onto the ITR last year collecting information to assist the ATO with determining the superannuation co-contribution. As these labels were not compulsory many agents did not fill them in, as the majority of information appears elsewhere on the return, and agents need to keep their time (and charges to their client) to a minimum.
One member had a client who did not receive their full co-contribution for the 2010 year, and when this was queried with the ATO they were advised that they were required to complete and lodge an amended return including the information at these labels, so that their full and correct co-contribution could be determined.
Members expressed concern that clients may not be receiving their co-contribution if these labels were not completed, and asked are these labels compulsory?
Members stated there are issues in determining if the client may be eligible for a co-contribution as often clients are not aware of what types of contributions they have made to their superannuation and whether they are deducted or un-deducted contributions.
A member queried whether the ATO has stopped sending out letters to taxpayers advising them of payment of the co-contribution amounts. If this has happened it is difficult for clients or agents to determine whether the co-contribution was paid/paid in full as they will not know until or unless they receive a statement from their superannuation fund.
ATO response
Karen Wantling will forward to the superannuation co-contributions team within the ATO the intelligence provided by members regarding the inability of agents to obtain quality information from their clients which leads to issues re the integrity of the information they might enter due to their clients lack of understanding.
Action item
|
19072011/2
|
Description
|
The chair to follow up whether the new co-contribution labels at A3 on the individual tax return are compulsory; and if they are not is payment of the co-contribution affected when these labels are not completed.
|
Responsibility
|
Karen Wantling
|
Due date
|
As soon as possible
|
ATO response
In progress
The next meeting is a face to face meeting in Townsville scheduled for Tuesday 18 October 2011.
Additional details will issue closer to the date.
Attachment A
ATPF agenda items for meeting of August 2011
The following agenda items were raised by ATPF members, for regional members' information and input.
Item a: Update on Tax Agent Portal outages and system issues
Subject:
|
Update on Tax Agent Portal outages and system issues
|
Issue:
|
The Professional Bodies request a presentation about current issues impacting the Tax Agent Portal. In particular, we request information about:
- Statistics (if available) on the number/regularity/duration of recent unplanned outages or system issues.
- The progress that has been made on the nine issues that have been identified as 'under investigation' on the Systems/maintenance and issues page on the ATO website.
- Any other known 'bugs' or system difficulties that are causing system outages.
|
Background:
|
The Tax Agent Portal is an essential tool for tax agents. It is one of the key channels for interactions between tax agents and the ATO. The reliability and stability of the Tax Agent Portal is crucial for tax agents, and any outages or system issues (particularly those which are unplanned) have a detrimental effect on tax agents' efficiency and practice.
|
Industry view /suggested treatment:
|
The Professional Bodies acknowledge that the ATO has long term plans for updating and improving the Tax Agent Portal, with the goal of improving its functionality, reliability and stability. We also acknowledge that making improvements to the Tax Agent Portal are often subject to budget, system and resourcing limitations. However, we would like to stress the importance of prioritising updates to the portal, particularly where such updates would improve the stability and reliability of the portal.
|
Technical references:
|
Not relevant.
|
Impact on clients:
|
Not relevant.
|
Priority of issue where ATO view is required:
|
Check priority box using either ( ) or ( )
High
 Medium
Low
Outline reason for priority
The Tax Agent Portal is used by many tax agents on a daily basis. Any unplanned outages have a significant impact on their efficiency, and can ultimately have a detrimental effect on taxpayers. The detrimental effects include (but are not limited to) stress to tax agents, late lodgment of returns/other documents, unrecoverable fee time incurred whilst waiting for portal to be operational or re-work required when returns/documents are unsuccessfully processed.
|
Has previous advice been sought from the ATO?
|
Not relevant.
|
Has this issue been discussed at any other ATO consultative forum?
|
The functionality of the Tax Agent Portal has been discussed at the ATPF on several occasions. However, a detailed update on issues currently facing the portal has not been presented for some time.
|
Issue history
|
***ATO internal use only
|
Item b: Concerns about direct contact with clients of tax agents
Subject:
|
Concerns about direct contact with clients of tax agents
|
Issue:
|
Would the ATO please provide a list of instances and circumstances where it will not follow the protocol of contacting tax agent first when the tax agent is appropriately at the taxpayer's contact for the matter concerned?
|
Background:
|
The Professional Bodies are concerned that the ATO is continuing its practice of directly contacting a taxpayer in relation to the taxpayer's tax affairs, despite a tax agent being registered as the authorised contact.
Examples of such situations include:
- ATO communicating to taxpayers inviting them to lodge their tax variations themselves.
- Penalties for not lodging your income tax return for individuals on time.
- Claiming repairs vs improvements relating to the recent natural disasters (as one tax agent stated, most of the taxpayers did not have investment properties in the areas that have been affected by floods).
- Advising SME/IME business about the rules (i.e. continuity of ownership test, same business test, trust loss rules) that restrict the availability of carried forward tax and capital losses.
In the Professional Bodies' opinion, this creates anxiety and confusion for the clients and in most cases, in the first instance, they would contact the tax agent, which then adds more burden for the tax agents in responding to and allaying their clients' fears or otherwise.
The concerns of the Professional Bodies are primarily:
- tax agents may be unaware of the correspondence sent directly to their clients;
- it may lead to taxpayers not trusting their nominated tax agent;
- tax agents are unable to explain the context/reason for the correspondence when it is sent directly to the taxpayer; and
- taxpayers give their agents address for service for a reason - they want tax agents to deal with the ATO's correspondence and queries. This should be respected.
|
Industry view/suggested treatment:
|
Ideally, the address for service of notice should always be used for correspondence, unless there are special extenuating circumstances.
The Professional Bodies suggest that where the ATO does decide to send letters directly, they should send a copy of the correspondence to the relevant agent in advance. There should be (at the very least) a one week time lag between the letters, to ensure the agent receives the letter first.
The Professional Bodies suggest that any letter sent directly to a taxpayer include an acknowledgment that the taxpayer has an agent ie 'We note that your registered tax agent is [insert name of agent]. You should discuss this letter with your agent' (or something along those lines). This should ensure that taxpayers are aware that the ATO knows about their agent, and that discussing the matter with the agent is an acceptable course of action.
|
Technical references:
|
Not applicable.
|
Impact on clients:
|
The practice of sending letters directly to taxpayers appears to be occurring across all taxpayer types (eg IME, SME, LBI) and industries. It therefore potentially affects all tax agents.
|
Priority of issue where ATO view is required:
|
Check priority box using either ( ) or ( )
 High
Medium
Low
Outline reason for priority
It is a concern for most tax agents for the reasons detailed above.
|
Has previous advice been sought from the ATO?
|
Yes, this issue has been raised in the main ATPF meeting on 6 August 2010 (agenda item 11) however the Professional Bodies feel that what has been addressed in that meeting is contrary to what our members have been telling us.
The Professional Bodies note that in the minutes of the meeting, in the longer term, the ATO intends to move to a 'client preference' approach which will enable clients to indicate where they prefer correspondence to be sent.
|
Has this issue been discussed at any other ATO consultative forum?
|
It was briefly discussed in the Accounting Working Group meeting with Bronwyn Dumont of the ATO on 17 June 2011 and she said she would look into it.
|
Issue history
|
***ATO internal use only
|
Last Modified: Wednesday, 7 September 2011