With the new official guidelines set down by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) in conjunction with the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) on February 7, many practitioners are playing catch up to early adopters who are already using technology to verify the identity of their clients to prevent identity theft and tax fraud.
CEO, John Ahern of the award-winning Verification of Identity technology provider, InfoTrackID, says, “Early adopters of the new guidelines are accountants and BAS agents who care about their clients and are setting the gold standard when it comes to balancing the new obligations while creating efficiencies across their practice.”
Ahern adds “During the 2020 wave of COVID-19, we saw early adopters of the legal profession benefit from using technology to conduct their client’s Verification of Identity remotely, with usage of InfoTrackID soaring by 260%.”
The ATO’s client verification guidelines along with the complimenting TPB Practice Note 5/2022 provide a series of methods tax practitioners are advised to follow in order to verify and validate the identity of their clients to noted standards. Approved verification methods include visual sighting of client’s documents, cross-referencing client details with ATO records as well as document validation via a Document Verification Service (DVS) gateway.
Tax practitioners are required to conduct proof of identity checks with at least two of the three methods. Failure to comply with the guidelines places practitioners in breach of several code of conduct policies within the Tax Agent Services Act 2009.
InfoTrackID, the award-winning and affordable identity verification technology, offers a simple proof of identity process for practitioners across all three methods with minimal effort. Ahern notes, “With InfoTrackID, a practitioner can improve practice efficiency by leveraging a selection of three checks. Our remote function allows practitioners to visually affirm a client against provided documents. For ATO record checks, the client authorisation form required by the ATO guidelines can be automatically and securely generated within the InfoTrackID portal. Thirdly, once a client has uploaded their documents via InfoTrack’s secured and encrypted gateway, the files can be validated against DVS for validation in real-time. All of these giving choice to practitioners and meeting the ATO requirements.”
Sharon Norton, Enablement Manager of Fordham Group is an early adopter who has benefited from efficiencies gained using InfoTrackID. “InfoTrack seamlessly integrates to our Practice Management and Document Management Systems. The real time automated filing of documents and creation of disbursement costs is a great time saver.”
Ahern adds, “We are confident that InfoTrackID is an asset to tax practitioners. Back in 2021, we approached The Tax Institute as a partner who has led the way in educating the tax profession on the proposed client verification of identity guidelines and how to prepare for this. As early adopters, they supported their members through direct access to industry-leading technology in our ever-more digital world.”
Elisa Taleski, Practice Manager at UHY Haines Norton, and member of The Tax Institute said that “InfoTrackID’s ease, convenience and integration within our practice management system allows for a seamless experience.”
InfoTrack is offering complimentary training and identity verification checks in the month of February for tax practitioners and BAS agents who need support with adopting the guidelines.
