Entities not covered by the program

Unregistered clients

Unregistered clients and clients that have not appointed you as their registered agent are not covered by your lodgment program.

Your clients need to have been allocated a registration number appropriate to the document to be lodged:

• tax returns – the registration number is a tax file number (TFN)
• activity statements – the registration number is either
  • an Australian business number (ABN)
  • a TFN if an ABN is not applicable.

Authority to act

Your clients cannot be covered by your lodgment program until they have appointed you as their registered agent.

How to notify us

You can notify us of your authority to act on their behalf by adding them to your client list using Online services for agents or the Practitioner lodgment service.

Activity statement role

Our current systems do not allow more than one agent to be appointed to the activity statement role for a client. Keep this in mind if your client has a tax agent and a BAS agent to prepare their documents. You can see if an agent already exists for a role in Online services for agents. In these cases, you should make sure your client has provided you the authority to act for them for that particular obligation.

If you are a BAS agent acting for a client on the activity statement role, and you do not receive the latest activity statement, another agent may have been added to that role. To obtain the latest activity statement visit Online services for agents and add the client to your client list.

Date of effect

Your authority to act on behalf of a new client for lodgment purposes only takes effect from when we receive it. To make sure any new clients are covered by your lodgment program for 2024–25, you must successfully lodge the authority with us by the dates in the following table.

Table: Authority to act

Type of authority to act	Must be lodged with us by:
Income tax	31 October 2024  Note: Your clients will not be covered by your lodgment program if added after 31 October 2024. If you accept a new client for income tax purposes after 31 October 2024, check the lodgment due date for the client on your client list from Online services for agents or PLS. If the new client was previously a self-preparer, they will not be covered by your lodgment program and may need to lodge by an earlier due date.
FBT	21 May 2025