“Give me an example”: ATO chief Chris Jordan says clients need to be specific when making tax complaints

You could call it ‘problematic specificity’. The head of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), Chris Jordan, has warned customers that if they can’t point to a particular process or problem when whinging about their tax experience, well, it’s going to be a whole lot harder to fix.

It’s a chin-first approach from the revenue agency that says it now needs robust user feedback to keep pursuing the holy grail of ‘co-design’, the practice of asking a client what works for them in the hope that they ‘buy in’ to the process thrust upon them.

“All too often I hear that dealing with the tax office is difficult. ‘The tax system is complex’ — well yes, it is. But give me an example of something that I can actually fix!” Jordan told the Xerocon conference this month, where the agency breaks bread with small businesses.

“The more specific you are with your feedback, the more chance we have of actually addressing it. Give us feedback on our online self-service systems.”

Jordan’s big picture pitch is a digital transaction Nirvana called ‘Tax Admin 3.0’, where tax essentially collects itself via your small business accounting software that automatically sorts GST and withholdings on the fly and n real-time.

Straight-up processing

The big assumption there is that businesses actually want to part with cash to tax in ‘real-time’, but Jordan’s pitch is a potent one because the trade-off is SMEs not having to deal with an earnings reconciliation horror show (aka Robodebt), which now has its own royal commission.

The pursuit of ‘Tax Admin 3.0.’ and its underpinning OECD standards-based Peppol automated data and document exchange framework is, unsurprisingly, being led by the ATO because if successful (which is likely), it would lead to a step shift in efficiency and speed in revenue collection.

What’s less appreciated outside the accounting fraternity is that the ATO has, for at least the past decade, also actively pursued and supported the local accounting and financials software industry (think Xero, MYOB, Quickbooks and TechnologyOne), to help them improve customer experience.

“Once upon a time, the ATO thought it was the centre of the tax universe. We would set a course and everyone would have no choice but to follow our lead,” Jordan said.

“But today we know better. We view ourselves as just one part of a very big tax ecosystem, and we know the key to creating optimal digital experiences is co-design.

“We need to work together to design solutions where taxpayers, tax professionals, digital service providers (DSPs) and the ATO all genuinely benefit and can clearly see what’s in it for each of us.”

Show me some discipline

Importantly, Jordan rammed home the importance of a robust user experience feedback loop when it comes to technology inclusion, tax agents included. He was adamant people won’t be left stranded.

“We are redeveloping our website to make it easier for you to find the information you need, and we’re co-designing this too,” Jordan said.

“We get multiple calls from tax agents asking basic questions then complaining when we send them to the website. We’re not a free advice service!

“If our online services aren’t working for you, tell us what the blockers are — but be specific! — so we can address them. There is no benefit to us designing a system that doesn’t work for you. You won’t be designed out of the tax system as technology progresses,” Jordan said.

The first question that begs is whether Jordan is a fast mover or has a steel jaw. The second is whether co-design has provided Jordan with both.

This article was first published by The Mandarin.