ATO boss tells agents to use ‘Kardashian-like influence’ wisely
Rob Heferen has promised to improve communication with tax practitioners who have a “unique role and influence” in the system.
Tax Commissioner Rob Heferen says the tax profession is one of the ATO’s core priorities, committing to improved communication and collaboration, but also calling on agents to wield their influence responsibly.
“My commitment to you is that I will be a Commissioner who listens to feedback, whether that be public scrutiny, parliamentary inquiry, or directly from you,” Heferen told practitioners at the Tax Institute’s annual summit on Thursday.
“What I will need from you is your commitment to knowing, understanding and using your influence in a way that benefits the system now and into the future.”
“As tax professionals, you’re integral to ensuring the self-assessment system operates with integrity. Your clients are putting their trust in you. And so am I.”
Agents have a Kardashian-like influence on tax system
Heferen said tax agents were almost like social media influencers with a reach exceeding 19 million taxpayers, clients and partners in Australia.
“You have a unique role and influence in the system. A different influencer, perhaps, than one might see on social media or streaming platforms. But you have influence nonetheless,” Heferen said.
“If you’re under a certain age a Kardashian might come to mind, or if you’re in my demographic you might be thinking about the Beatles.”
Recent events including the PwC tax scandal showed that the community expected practitioners to hold themselves to a high level of integrity and trust, he said.
“The ATO must hold itself to a high standard of integrity. The community expects that from us. Recent events have shown that our partners in the system, tax professionals, must also match that level of integrity and trust.”
He also called on practitioners to take initiative and ensure ATO “constrained” resources were used efficiently, including not exacerbating call wait times with simple queries.
He recalled a recent instance where an agent called to ask about declaring a pre-1985 asset – information readily available on the ATO website. “That was two or three minutes that obviously the ATO officer shouldn't really have been on that call,” he said.
“There’s a discipline about that agent line, we want to make sure it’s as useful and as timely as it can be for our partners in the system, and it's actually reserved for those things that need that extra bit of assistance, rather than relatively straightforward ones you just go online and get the answer.”
But he added that part of the answer to relieving long wait times was making sure the website’s search function was “as good as it can be”.
Communication ‘hasn’t always hit the mark’
Client-agent linking (CAL) was also acknowledged as another practitioner pain point, with Heferen committing to improving the ATO’s communication and correspondence which “hasn’t always hit the mark”.
The multi-step linking process became mandatory for all ABN holders in November last year and has been derided as “poorly implemented” and an “administrative nightmare” for taxpayers and agents.
Practitioners and professional bodies privy to the Tax Office’s CAL working group have said concerns raised about the design fell on deaf ears during its development, with the ATO refusing to make any changes to the system.
But Heferen, a veteran public servant who took over as Commissioner in March from Chris Jordan, said he made “focusing on the tax profession” as one of the ATO’s core priorities in its corporate plan.
He said Jordan had improved the taxpayer experience and left the ATO an “effective and high-functioning” organisation in his 10-year tenure. But there was “still work to do”.
“I haven’t come to the Tax Office to put in place immediate change. This is because I am sure that before deciding if change can or should happen, it’s important to listen and reflect.”
“We want to strengthen our partnership with you to support the integrity and continuous improvement of the tax and super system.”
“We have a shared commitment to supporting taxpayers in meeting their obligations and we will continue to work with you through our two-way communication with you, including the key agent program, open forums, stewardship groups and when we consult with you.”
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