Review: ATO’s administration of Director Penalty Notices

Scheduled to begin: TBC subject to resourcing

Reviews and reports

Director Penalty Notices (DPNs) are an important tool for the ATO to administer and collect certain company tax debts – GST, PAYGW and superannuation guarantee – directly from directors of companies. However, their use can have significant impacts on individual taxpayers, not all of whom are aware of their personal liabilities as a director.

In the 2024-25 financial year, the ATO issued more than 84,000 DPNs to directors of approximately 64,000 companies, a 136% increase over the prior financial year, as part of the strengthening of its debt collection functions.

Although DPNs are an important tool to ensure that directors who allow their companies to fall into debt are not able to escape liability, their use can also cause serious consequences. This is especially the case where directors have ceased their directorships or been unaware of the liabilities due to personal circumstances, such as illness, which may have prevented their active involvement in the management of the company.

An increasing area of concern is how coerced directorships are being used to perpetrate financial abuse, with DPN liabilities being a further impact on victim-survivors. Drawing on our body of complaints regarding DPNs as well as stakeholder feedback and the ATO’s ongoing work in relation to its vulnerability framework and debt strategy, this review would explore how the ATO uses and administers DPNs and any opportunities to improve its approach.

Review: ATO’s management of remission of the general interest charge

The government and community should be compensated for deliberate late payment of tax liabilities and that late payment should not be rewarded, but there may be a range of factors that hamper a taxpayer’s ability to pay their liabilities on time. This review will explore whether ATO GIC decisions are supported by policies, systems and processes that align with principles of good tax administration, such as consistency, transparency and getting it right.

Review: ATO’s management of compromised accounts

Scheduled to begin in 2026

Reviews and reports

In April 2024, the Tax Ombudsman published a report of our examination of one aspect of tax identity fraud. That investigation and report focused on the importance of bank account integrity and the ATO’s risk management controls to prevent fraudsters from changing bank account details in legitimate taxpayer accounts. That aspect of the tax identity fraud investigation has been concluded and the ATO’s response to our recommendations has been published online.

Another key aspect of tax identity fraud is the experience of taxpayers (and their representatives) when their tax account is compromised. Feedback from the community and practitioners indicate that affected individuals face significant difficulties. These include challenges in recovering tax refunds lost to fraud and in accessing their tax accounts via myGov or the ATO app, which often requires long wait times on phone calls to unblock. Accordingly, this review will seek to investigate whether the ATO’s management of compromised tax accounts are consistent with the principles of good administration, such as ease of access, low cost of compliance and putting it right.

What will we examine?

  • Whether the ATO provides timely and adequate support to taxpayers and their representatives in assisting them to secure and restore their online tax account.
  • Whether the ATO’s policies and processes for supporting taxpayers who have tax debts or have lost their tax refunds due to compromised tax accounts are reasonable and proportionate to the risks.
  • Whether the ATO’s current processes to prevent future occurrences of compromise are effective and sustainable.
  • Opportunities for the ATO to improve its collaboration with other agencies to strengthen coordinated responses and treatment strategies for identity fraud cases, ensuring timely resolution and support for affected individuals.

Review: ATO online services for agents

STATUS: Consultation is open until 5pm (AEDT) Friday, 10 April 2026

Reviews and reports

Online Services for Agents (OSfA) is a secure system provided by the ATO for registered tax and BAS agents. It allows agents to access a range of client information and services, offering real-time visibility and control over client data. 

The ATO has been encouraging agents to use self-service platforms like OSfA to streamline processes and reduce reliance on phone support. And we know agents far prefer to transact online than to call the ATO. Using online channels makes interactions more efficient and reduces wait times for agents. We understand that time is money for agents!  

However, feedback from recent consultation with the agent community as part of our Review of the Registered Agent Phone Line highlighted several issues and concerns with OSfA and its integrated communication channel: Practice Mail.  

Agents reported inefficiencies in using the portal . They also said they would be more likely to use OSfA if it had the capability to fulfil their key transaction requirements and could do so in a timely way to meet the needs of their clients. These issues have raised questions about the system’s effectiveness and usability.  

The review will examine what specific changes are required for OSfA and Practice Mail to deliver the functionality and responsiveness that agents need to perform their roles efficiently and with confidence. These improvements will, in turn, promote greater and more timely voluntary compliance with tax and superannuation obligations.  

What will we examine?

  • How OSfA and Practice Mail can be improved to enable agents and their practices to effectively support their clients in managing their tax affairs.  
  • How Practice Mail (or a replacement channel, as an alternative to post and fax), can be improved to support effective, timely and secure two-way communication between agents and the ATO.  
  • What are the top priority improvements to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of OSfA and Practice Mail in supporting taxpayers to comply with their tax obligations via their registered agents and, where appropriate, reduce demand in phone and postal contact. 
  • Whether the ATO has an established process for identifying, prioritising and implementing improvements to OSfA and Practice Mail, including capturing and considering feedback from the agent community and ensuring that system changes appropriately consider user experience and user support. 

How to participate

We encourage and welcome input and contributions from registered agents and their professional bodies.   

You can take part in several ways.  

  1. Survey  

Please take approximately 5 minutes to complete a short survey.   

Your information will only be used for the purposes of informing the review. It will not be  shared with anyone outside the review team. However, your comments may be anonymised and referenced in the final report.  

You can provide your email address (optional) if you wish to be kept informed of review progress and Tax Ombudsman news and events.  

Complete the survey  

  1. Webinars  

Participate in a webinar to learn more about the review, share your feedback, experiences and case studies. All feedback collected will inform our review.   

Register by clicking on the links below:  

  • Friday, 27 March 2026, 12 – 1 PM (AEDT) Register 
  • Thursday, 2 April 2026, 3 – 4 PM (AEDT): Register 

Another webinar will be held on the review’s completion, with a presentation on recommendations.  Follow us on LinkedIn or Facebook for updates.  

  1. Submissions  

You can make a submission online, by email, post or phone call. Please review the terms of reference below before making a submission. 

  • Send postal submissions to:   
    Online Services for Agents Review   
    Tax Ombudsman  
    GPO Box 551   
    SYDNEY NSW 2001   
  • Phone submissions: (02) 8239 2131  

 Submissions will be accepted until 5pm (AEST) Friday, 10 April 2026.  

  1. Tax agents  

If you have a group or meeting of tax agents during March and April which we can use or attend to discuss this topic and seek feedback, please get in touch. [email protected]   

  1. Professional bodies  

We will engage professional bodies directly. Professional bodies may also like to make a formal submission using the details above.   

  1. Other research  

In addition to reviewing submissions and system documentation, we will seek to observe how agents interact with OSfA and Practice Mail in real time, working alongside them to better understand what is working well and where the pain points lie.   

We will also engage with the ATO to host system walk throughs and technical sessions to explore what can feasibly be implemented given system constraints, resourcing and broader cost-benefit considerations.  

Next steps?  

Submissions are open until 5pm (AEDT) Friday, 10 April 2026.   

We expect to publish our report by  August 2026.  

Terms of reference