The ATO is currently trialling a new digital service called Relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM) that will allow individuals and businesses to manage authorisations and give others authority to act on behalf of them when interacting with government online services.
With AUSkey set to phase out by March 2020, RAM and myGovID will be the primary tool to access government online services.
AUSkey will continue to be made available to agents during the transition phase.
The ATO is also working on connecting Access Manager and RAM, allowing businesses to set the permissions for a person acting on its behalf for ATO online services.
“For example, if an authorisation administrator gives you permission in RAM to act on behalf of a business, they will also be able to select ‘full’ or ‘custom’ access,” the ATO said.
“For ‘custom’ access, users will be directed to Access Manager to allow them to set specific permissions, limiting what they are able to do when accessing ATO online services on behalf of your business.”
Tax agents can help their clients prepare for the change by ensuring their ABN details are up to date in the Australian Business Register.
Those who have an administrator AUSkey should also check if other nominated AUSkey users are still correct.
