Key ATO digital services, which includes its portals and website, will be offline from 11.30pm 25 January to 7am 29 January AEDT. Contact centres will also be closed over the Australia Day long weekend.
You can access information about the status of your key portals and services here.
Tax professionals were informed of the downtime in late 2017, and accountants like Fortis Accounting partner John Kalachian are generally satisfied there will be limited disruption to business.
There are exceptions though for those working on Saturday. National networks like H&R Block operate client-facing services and meetings on weekends.
Accountants and support staff who have flexible work arrangements should also plan for the downtime accordingly.
“We do work weekends as I have staff who work at home with young families and they need to work out of hours as a family friendly employer. Notwithstanding this I do understand that the ATO needs to keep the systems running and up to date,” principal at Freeman and Co Gail Freeman told Accountants Daily.
The tax office said its working to ensure planned maintenance is scheduled during periods that are least disruptive for businesses.
“We conduct regular maintenance of our systems to update them and ensure their stability and availability during peak lodgement periods,” a spokesperson told Accountants Daily.
“We schedule this work over weekends and public holidays and give affected clients as much notice as possible to minimise any disruption to their business.”
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