iscoverTax agents are increasingly dissatisfied with the ATO, its poor service and “strained relationships”, the Tax Ombudsman has revealed.
‘Overwhelmed, disappointed’: Tax Ombudsman slams ATO tax agent service
16 October 2025
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10 minute read
In a recent review into the Tax Office’s service to agents, a significant amount of dissatisfaction has been uncovered with the Tax Ombudsman “overwhelmed” by the negative feedback.
Ruth Owen, Tax Ombudsman, said it was crucial for tax agents to feel supported by the ATO as they played a vital role in the Australian tax system and represented 62 per cent of individual taxpayers and 96 per cent of other taxpayers.
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Owen said she could not believe the experiences tax agents were having with the ATO daily and that change was desperately needed.
“I have been overwhelmed by the strong feedback from tax agents in this review. Agents are reporting an increasingly poor experience with the ATO’s agent phone line over the last two years, citing inconsistent advice and a lack of suitably skilled staff. This is contributing to a general feeling of not being valued by the ATO,” she said.
“It’s time for the ATO to recognise that, publicly. Evidence from prior reviews suggests that agents’ engagement with their clients drives up tax compliance and contributes to the ATO’s goals of increasing voluntary compliance and closing the tax gap.”
According to the review, a mismatch of expectations between what agents expected of the ATO’s phone line and the service the ATO was offering had led to increased frustration for both parties.
A point of contention highlighted by Owen was the fact that there was no dedicated team in charge of servicing the registered agent phone line when agents assumed they were speaking with a specialist team.
Owen said it was often that most agents’ calls were directed to contracted call centre officers, with half of them having less than 12 months' experience with the ATO and having very little technical tax training – meaning they shouldn’t be expected to answer complex or overly technical calls.
It was added that the ATO provided a faster service to agents, but they expected a more specialised, tailored service designed to meet their needs.
“The call centre service works for general calls from taxpayers, but agents are more likely to have more technical or complex questions to resolve,” Owen said.
Though the phone line was outlined to be a significant problem, Owen said this was only part of the picture when it came to ATO support for the agent community.
“The agent phone line cannot be looked at in isolation. Agents usually call the ATO because they cannot do what they need to do online. As most agents said to me, ‘I don’t want to spend my time calling the ATO. If I could do it online, I would’,” she said.
It was noted by Owen that of the 14 recommendations proposed to the ATO, all but one were agreed to.
The one recommendation rejected by the ATO was the idea of routing agents’ calls to more experienced or skilled staff and formally responded with:
“...we consider that within our operating environment, rather than creating a dedicated team to support agent calls, our focus should remain on investment in our digital channels for registered agents, training and escalation pathways, and creating more dedicated and skilled teams for those more complex areas – such as our current work underway on taxpayer relief, including interest remissions.”
Off the back of this response from the ATO, Owen said she was “disappointed” the ATO had not accepted that the service it provided to tax agents by phone was not meeting agents’ needs and needed to change.
“However, I am pleased to see the ATO’s commitment to improving its digital services for agents, to working more collaboratively with agents and to measuring agent satisfaction,” she said.
“Maybe by understanding agents’ needs better, the ATO may identify how its service can improve and implement further solutions.”
“And we will continue to work alongside the ATO to look at further opportunities for improvement, including undertaking a more in-depth review of the ATO’s online service for agents in the new year.”
Despite the review now having been completed, the Ombudsman said it was important to note that the issues were not new ones as the Australian National Audit Office had highlighted the same in 2022.
The Australian Public Service Commission Capability Review of the ATO in 2025 also highlighted the same issues, as it noted the ATO’s relationship with tax intermediaries had eroded.
Owen said it was time for the ATO to listen to the tax community and work with them.
“This isn’t about asking for better services for agents – it’s about recognising that tax professionals require a different kind of service, one that’s tailored to meet their distinct needs, and recognising the important role they play in serving taxpayers and the whole community.”
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