The Online MyGov has caused major hassles for tax agents so we felt it was important to let you know. Over the past year, the ATO has made several changes to the way in which it communicates with tax payers and their delegated tax agents. As a result of this change your active MyGov inbox will now be the default channel and address for correspondence issued by the ATO. This means said correspondence will no longer be sent simultaneously to your tax agent – or the business solutions provider who handles your tax matters – for processing. So how does this impact you in the long term?
How MyGov Works
Going forward, you will receive an email and/or SMS notification from the ATO notifying you that new correspondence has been issued and delivered to your MyGov inbox. You simply need to log into your account to view the latest correspondence. And while this same correspondence will be sent to your delegated tax agent or business solutions provider via online channels, you need to be aware there may be a marked time delay in the delivery dates.
The reason this is so important, is should you owe the ATO an additional payment – as can happen when your current tax return is being processed – your tax agent may not learn about it timeously. And by the time your tax agent does receive the official ATO notification, your due date for any outstanding payments may well have passed. The bottom line is you will probably incur an avoidable penalty fee. While it’s possible to reverse this penalty fee under certain circumstances, this is a case of “prevention is better than the cure”.
So be sure to check your MyGov inbox as soon as you’re able upon receiving an ATO notification of new correspondence. And follow up with the appropriate action. That said, we do live in an age when hacking and cyber-attacks are prevalent. Should you be unsure as to the legitimacy of any ATO emails or SMS notifications received, don’t hesitate to forward them to your trusted business solutions provider to confirm that all is in order.
At SMART Business Solutions we are trying to proactively monitor the tax agent portal however we are often not notified of these document’s on a timely basis. Frustrating for all involved so hopefully the ATO can do something about this matter in the future.
Want to know more about how your MyGov account works? Contact SMART Business Solutions today for the low down on how to keep up-to-date with your ATO correspondence.
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