Online Services for Agents is the new system that tax and BAS agents will use to access services.

“The rollout will occur gradually from mid-January, with all tax and BAS agents expected to have access by the end of March 2019,” the ATO explained.

“We will send an email to your practice to let you know when your practice has access to the new system, and provide instructions for what you need to do.”

One of the most anticipated features of the new portal by those providing superannuation and SMSF services is the superannuation function, which shows tax agents specific information about the superannuation funds of their individual clients.

The portal will show the details of super funds and balances reported by those funds. It will display the date the information was reported to the ATO, the date the account was opened, member account number, member client number, recent contributions, insurance details and address of the fund.

The ATO noted that account balances are reported annually and the balance shown in the system may not reflect the current balance of the client’s account.

The superannuation function will also display information about a client’s total superannuation balance and information and transactions relating to superannuation that has been transferred from concessional tax accumulation phase to tax-free retirement phase accounts, the ATO said.

It will also display an excess transfer balance amount if the client has had an excess transfer balance determination issue and commutation authorities have not been issued to their super fund.

In September last year, ATO deputy commissioner James O’Halloran acknowledged that one of the frustrating aspects for professionals dealing with transfer balance cap reporting or excess TBC determinations for clients has been the difficulty in accessing information about a client’s transfer balance cap.

“We appreciate agents want to be able to see the information we’ve relied on when determining their client has exceeded their TBC,” Mr O’Halloran said last year.

Without direct access to TBC and TSB information, SMSF practitioners have had to rely on clients accessing the information through their MyGov account, downloading the information and emailing it to them.

This has created a number of hurdles, particularly where clients haven’t set up a MyGov account or don’t have access to a computer, according to Keep It Simple Super director Julie Taylor.

“I just don’t think everyone is engaged with MyGov. When we’re talking to advisers, often their client won’t have MyGov and then they’ve got to run through the process of getting them on there,” Ms Taylor said previously.

“We’re relying on the client to know what they’re doing with the MyGov account, and realistically not all clients have computers. There are a large proportion of SMSF clients that are older and they have to go to the library to hook up to their MyGov account.”

Others such as SMSF Alliance practice principal David Busoli have pointed out that while the online services portal is expected to provide better access to information for tax agents, it will not address the issue of accessing client information for other types of professionals such as financial planners and SMSF administrators.