UPDATE: The online portal millions of Australians will use this year to lodge their tax return has crashed, after the launch of a new system requiring income tax payers to log in to download a vital document.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) recently announced it has brought in a new reporting system called Single Touch Payroll (STP), which means millions of people this year will have to create a myGov account to access their End of Year Financial Payment Summaries – the new name for what is colloquially known as “group certificates”.
Until now, these were sent to you directly from your employer each year, and listed how much you earned and how much tax you paid in the year – two vital ingredients if you have to prepare a return.
However, the system crashed this morning after the ATO was reported to have received an influx of more than 650,000 tax returns in the first week of July alone.
The boom in returns saw reports the ATO asked staff to work on weekends to accommodate the large number of people moving to take advantage of an expected tax return boost.
This month, the Federal Government’s Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Relief So Working Australians Keep More Of Their Money) Bill 2019 was passed.
The effects will be felt by many in this year’s return, as the Bill could net tax payers up to an extra $1,080 and will also increase the size of tax cuts that were already set to apply this year. There will also be increases to the offset for the following three financial years, ending in 2022.
MyGov, which is operated by the Department of Human Services, has reportedly stated that it’s not a cyber attack, and that they were aware of the issue.
Some people are currently having issues accessing myGov.
We are urgently investigating the issue and will keep you updated here. We apologise for any inconvenience.
Please try again later.— myGov (@myGovau) July 12, 2019
I asked the Dept of Human Services why MyGov website has crashed + if they’ve ruled out possibility of cyber attack. Response: “Some services, including MyGov, are currently unavailable or experiencing slowness. The Dept is working on the issue + apologises #auspol #mygov @9news
— Fiona Willan (@Fi_Willan) July 12, 2019
The outage comes less than 24 hours after a major Telstra service problem which disrupted bank services, including ATMs and EFTPOS transactions, across the country.
More to come.
A journalist for more than two decades, Amanda Horswill has reported on a galaxy of subjects, including property, lifestyle, hyper-local news, data journalism, the Arts and careers.
She’s served as the Editor of Brisbane News, Deputy Features Editor for The Sunday Mail, Deputy Editor – Digital at Quest Community News, and a host of other senior positions at News Corp, prior to joining Australia’s biggest financial comparison website, Canstar.
Amanda is fascinated with the ever-changing world of finance. A passionate believer in the motto “knowledge is power”, she strives to translate the news into practical information that will help readers make informed decisions about their future. While at Canstar, her work has been regularly referenced by publishers such as the Sydney Morning Herald , The Age, The New Daily and Yahoo Finance.
Amanda holds a Bachelor of Arts (Journalism, Media Studies and Production, and Public Relations) and a Graduate Certificate in Editing and Publishing, from the University of Southern Queensland.
Follow her on LinkedIn and Canstar on Facebook. Meet the Canstar Editorial Team.
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