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Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and your myGov Inbox

The ATO are changing the way they communicate and are now committed to using electronic channels as their preferred means for delivery of ATO correspondence. They have implemented more modern forms of communication methods, such as SMS, email and secure messages sent to clients via their myGov Inbox.

The myGov portal is a simple way to access and manage your government services online. A secure myGov account lets you link a range of Australian Government services with one username and password, all in one place. Only natural persons are able to set up a myGov account (i.e. it is not available to entities such as companies, trusts or partnerships).

How will these changes impact you?

If you have set up a myGov account and have linked the ATO to that account, you have agreed to receive certain ATO correspondence into your myGov Inbox rather than having that correspondence come to us, your tax agent. The types of ATO correspondence you may receive in your myGov Inbox include:

• Notices, such as your Notice of Assessment
• Statements of account
• Confirmation and reminder notices
• Activity statements and instalment notices

As we will no longer receive this correspondence on your behalf, it is essential you monitor your myGov Inbox regularly. The ATO state they will notify you by SMS or email if anything has been delivered to your inbox, however we urge you to access your inbox frequently to ensure you do not miss important correspondence or payment/lodgement deadlines.

Please note, once you have linked the ATO to your myGov account it is not possible to change your mail delivery preference back to us. ATO correspondence will go automatically to your inbox unless you unlink the accounts.

• If you have a myGov account but it is not linked to the ATO, your mail preference and delivery method will remain unchanged. We will continue to receive, review and forward ATO correspondence as usual.
• If you do not have a myGov account, your mail preference and delivery method will also remain unchanged. We will continue to receive, review and forward ATO correspondence as usual.

Further information about myGov accounts can be found at: https://my.gov.au/mygov/content/html/about.html, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

written by:

McKinley Plowman