The ATO experienced an unplanned outage on Tuesday, with its tax professionals portals, online service for agents, PLS service and superannuation services all going down.
While the Tax Office has vowed to restore the services, it has conceded that services are unlikely to be returned by 4 June.
It has also reassured practitioners that they will not need to seek deferrals for the late lodgement or payment on 5 June as a result of the outage.
5 June is the lodgement deadline for SMSFs that are eligible for certain lodgement concessions. This applies to funds that are non-taxable or received a refund for the latest year lodged and are non-taxable or will receive a refund in the current year.
For SMSFs that lodge their transfer balance account reports (TBAR) annually, the report is also due on the same day as their annual return.
In an online update, the ATO said it would continue working on a fix and provide an update when the issue was resolved.
“You won’t be disadvantaged for late lodgement or payment and you don’t need to seek a deferral if you’re unable to meet the 5 June due date,” the ATO stated.
Systems are complex and we appreciate the effort that the ATO puts in. Just hope the leniency goes our way as well.