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The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) have launched a suite of new protections against identity-related fraud and theft. Client-to-agent linking is one of these protections.
The ATO have responded to criminals attempting to commit fraud by taking over the identities of honest registered agents to access the personal information of taxpayers. Criminals may pose as:
- taxpayers and engage an agent to help them (unknowingly) lodge fraudulent returns
- agents, to gain access to sensitive client information.
Client-to-agent linking requires entities with an ABN (excluding sole traders) to nominate us in Online services for business before we can:
- access your information, and
- act on your behalf.
A nomination must be made when you:
- engage a new registered agent (that is, a tax or BAS agent, or payroll service provider)
- changes the authorisation granted to an existing registered agent; for example, when the agent
- takes on new responsibilities such as income tax, or
- represents a new entity within the client group.
Please note that no action needs to be taken where we are already your registered agent.
The ATO has listened to feedback and updated their website to make the nomination process easier. Information on how to link us to your account, including a downloadable PDF guide with screenshots, can be found here.