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MyGovID set for default login on online services

Technology

The new identity credential myGovID is set to become the default ATO login option for tax and BAS agents by the end of the week, as the agency warns of the impending retirement of AUSkey in nine weeks.

By Jotham Lian 9 minute read

The ATO has announced that myGovID will be the default login option for online services for agents from 25 January.

Tax and BAS agents will still be able to log in with an AUSkey until it is completely retired by 31 March.

“Following the closure of AUSkey in late March, if you have not have not set up your myGovID, you won’t be able to access online services for agents,” the ATO said in an online update.

MyGovID, which utilises encryption and cryptographic technology as well as the security features on a device — such as fingerprint, face detection or password — to grant the user access to the government’s online services, is available for download through the Apple Store or Google Play.

Practitioners will need to establish their identity in myGovID through two out of four identity documents: driver’s licence, passport, birth certificate or Medicare card.

Principal authorities of a practice can then link the business in Relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM), allowing them to authorise another myGovID user to act on behalf of the practice.

ATO deputy commissioner John Dardo previously told Accountants Daily that an exception process is currently being tested for employees of a firm who are unable to provide the required identity documents.

“We have an exception process that we’ve designed, and we’re testing that exception process. They will still need a mobile device while they are overseas, but it can be a device that they’ve bought in Indonesia or the Philippines, but they will have to provide us with some proof of identity documents and we are establishing a process for them to do that,” Mr Dardo said previously.

“There will be a person at a tax agent practice level that will have to validate those people and we will collect those documents and we will create for them a special classification of token so that they can transact with us, but we will know they are an overseas-based user and we will have their POI documents.

“We are not banning people from working from overseas, but we are creating a special classification of people and we are collecting some extra evidence for that classification.”

Mr Dardo had also previously assured the profession that myGovID would be “more secure than any credential” and explained how it would be used in a practice with workplace policies on the usage of a mobile phone.

Jotham Lian

Jotham Lian

AUTHOR

Jotham Lian is the editor of Accountants Daily, the leading source of breaking news, analysis and insight for Australian accounting professionals.

Before joining the team in 2017, Jotham wrote for a range of national mastheads including the Sydney Morning Herald, and Channel NewsAsia.

You can email Jotham at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

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