When are we going to be able to lodge TFN declarations electronically?

Jennie Jessup
Jennie Jessup Member Posts: 8

Unbelievable that this is not available yet. Other software providers have had this for years.

Comments

  • John Graetz
    John Graetz Member Posts: 1,651 ✭✭✭
    edited July 2020
    Hi Jennie.  It will not give you any joy to know that this matter has been raised as recently as five months ago and that nothing then was in sight.  Refer to the following link:
    https://community.reckon.com/reckon/topics/lodging-tax-file-number-declarations-online
    John L G
  • Jennie Jessup
    Jennie Jessup Member Posts: 8
    edited October 2017

    Hi John.

    Yes saw that conversation and noted it was closed so thought I would raise the topic again.

    So inconvenient having to photocopy TFN declarations put them in an envelope and pay $1 to post them to the ATO. The rest of the world has moved on from this cumbersome way of doing business.

  • John Graetz
    John Graetz Member Posts: 1,651 ✭✭✭
    edited August 2017
    Yes, I agree with you Jennie.  I suspect that you will not get an answer because there is still nothing to report, in other words, Reckon do not regard this as important at this time, unfortunately. 
    However, all is not lost.  If you have an Auskey, then you can still lodge them electronically.  Refer to the following:
    https://www.ato.gov.au/Forms/Lodging-tax-file-number-(TFN)-declaration-data-online/
    It may not be ideal, but it will save you $1 in postage.
    John L G
  • Jodie Porter
    Jodie Porter Member Posts: 31
    edited August 2017
    I have the Auskey and can lodge online but can't find the report within Reckon.  Can anyone provide any insight?
  • John Graetz
    John Graetz Member Posts: 1,651 ✭✭✭
    edited August 2017
    Sorry Jodie for the delay in responding due to severe illness - just catching up on 6 days of emails.  
    Go to ?Employees > Process Payment Summaries > ATO Magnetic Media > ?then select the correct year and employees.  This is exactly the same procedure as was the case with a 3.5 " external disk or USB stick.  Then select ?Electronic File, ?perhaps modify you file name by adding an abbreviation of your entity name and 2017 to the start of the suggested name of EmpDupe and save it to somewhere on your computer.  When you go to do your lodgement with the ATO, you will go to File Transfer, but before you transfer it, take advantage of their test facility first, to ensure that there are no errors which must be corrected first.
    John L G
  • Gavin Jones_8306295
    Gavin Jones_8306295 Member Posts: 8
    edited January 2018
    John - as the request is for 'lodge TFN declarations' which mag media report do you use?  The closest I can tell is the INB which produces a 'Payment summary annual report (PSAR)'.  This does not appear to advise the ATO of employee's choice of claiming the 'Tax-free threshold'.  I did try to follow that ATO link you gave.  It just sent me following link after link till it returned me to the starting point, none the wiser.
  • John Graetz
    John Graetz Member Posts: 1,651 ✭✭✭
    edited January 2018
    H Gavin.  I have had a bit more of a look at this, and in doing so, came across this link, which was found within the information from the above link that I quoted:
    https://www.ato.gov.au/General/Online-services/In-detail/File-transfer/?anchor=Statementsandreportsy...

    In reading through this, I now consider that I have a bit better understanding of what is required.  My initial belief was that there was a way in which the TFNs could be put into a file and then lodged via Auskey.  That belief hasn't changed, but, I thought that there might be a relatively straight forward way in which this could be done.  My understanding now is that this is now not possible without business management software being available to do this.  In our case of course, this software has to come from Reckon, I would assume.  As previously stated, it seems that they are in no hurry to do anything about this as they have other priorities. 

    Perhaps there are other alternatives out there.  Refer to the following:
    https://softwaredevelopers.ato.gov.au/sites/default/files/resource-attachments/n73963_js36410_TFN_de...

    Sorry, but this is all too much for me to chase up as i have only a handful of TFNs to deal with in a year, so the current method works fine by me.  You may be able to expand your research based on the further information which I have provided, which has been obtained from google searches.

    There are organisations out there who specialise in payroll, such as Australian Payroll Association, who may be able to provide you with more information, although you may need to be a member to access this.
    John L G
  • Gavin Jones_8306295
    Gavin Jones_8306295 Member Posts: 8
    edited January 2018
    Thank you John for taking the time to so promptly answer my query.
    In my previous plunge down the ATO rabbit hole, I had read the pages you referenced and did know it is possible to upload a specially formatted file for TFN declarations.

    Although it would be reasonable to hope that Reckon be able to provide this ability, it really is a significant deficiency of the ATO Business Portable to not be able to handle single TFN declarations.  If I can fill in my BAS form online then it is reasonable to expect to be able to do the same for a TFN declaration.
    Thanks again.
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