ATO responds to gripes over access to TBAR services
While the ATO acknowledges that there is frustration in the SMSF sector that only tax agents for individuals are currently able to access TBAR services, it says that privacy concerns are preventing it from extending these services to other types of professionals.
Speaking in a webinar on transfer balance account reporting (TBAR) services for tax agents, ATO director Helen Morgan addressed some of the concerns about the limited access to TBAR information and services for SMSF professionals who are not a member’s individual tax agent.
In early April, the ATO said that access to transfer balance account report services has been extended to all tax agents and BAS agents in public beta through the online services for tax agents portal.
However, other types of SMSF professionals such as financial advisers are not able to access this information yet.
“While we appreciate that in the superannuation context, it is useful for trustees and their advisers to have a full understanding of the member’s circumstances, especially if they have or have had in the past, superannuation interests outside their SMSF which count towards their cap, it really is only limited to the individual and their agent who have access,” Ms Morgan said.
“I can appreciate that there’s a level of frustration in the sector about this, but it’s essentially a matter of privacy. We can only provide that information back to that individual or their personal tax agent.”
Ms Morgan said that individual clients can choose to download and share that information with professionals.
“But under our current systems and access permissions framework, it’s not possible for individuals to give you access to their full superannuation online,” she said.
“If an individual truly wants you to act on their behalf and have a full understanding of their affairs, then maybe [they] should consider engaging you as their agent, and if this isn’t appropriate, it’s probably best to ask the individual to provide that information.”
Ms Morgan said that the easiest way for individuals to obtain information is from their myGov account.
“If the individual doesn’t have an agent, they are probably already lodging their personal income tax returns using MyTax, so they’ll already be using a myGov account, so it’s just a matter of them going in and clicking on the superannuation tab of that account,” she said.
SMSF professionals have previously pointed out some of the hurdles of relying on clients to access and download their superannuation information from myGov.
Keep It Simple Super director Julie Taylor said that many clients haven’t set up a myGov account or don’t have access to a computer.
“I just don’t think everyone is engaged with myGov. When we’re talking to advisers, often their client don’t have myGov and then they’ve got to run through the process of getting them on there,” Ms Taylor said previously.
“We’re relying on the client to know what they’re doing with the myGov account and, realistically, not all clients have computers. There are a large proportion of SMSF clients that are older and they have to go to the library to hook up to their myGov account.”
Miranda Brownlee
Miranda Brownlee is the deputy editor of SMSF Adviser, which is the leading source of news, strategy and educational content for professionals working in the SMSF sector.
Since joining the team in 2014, Miranda has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest superannuation stories in Australia, and has reported extensively on technical strategy and legislative updates.
Miranda also has broad business and financial services reporting experience, having written for titles including Investor Daily, ifa and Accountants Daily.
