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Change Program creates crisis in many tax agents' practices

The Australian Taxation Office's new Change Program--the upgrade to its old, outdated computer system--has been plagued with problems. Problems that are directly affecting the lives and livelihoods of many tax agents and their clients.

A short history to date:

January 2010 - Tax Office advises we might experience "temporary service delays".

       February - There is a backlog of 300,000 returns yet to be processed.

            March - Without any prior consultation, the Tax Office announces there is a new four page Notice of

                          Assessment rather than the simpler one page version.

                       - Tax office stops ‘a significant number' of refund cheques.

                       - When these refund cheques are sent out they are dated 2 to 3 weeks earlier.

              April - Notices of Assessment are sent out with incorrect dates.

                       - Notices of Assessment are sent out without refund cheques.

                       - Partial Notices of Assessment are sent out.

Where are we now?

The true story is that we will probably never know the depths of the problems that have plagued this new computer system.

What we do know is that hundreds of income tax refunds have been affected and that hundreds of thousands are still locked in the system.

The NTAA (National Tax & Accountants' Association) are currently investigating the best way to obtain financial compensation for members and tax agents who have been financially disadvantaged due to this administrative hornet's nest.