We recently shared the news that the ATO's changes to client correspondence had caused some issues for some clients.

The issue relates to the recent change in the clients' correspondence preferences for delivery of the quarterly PAYG instalment notices (also known as instalment activity statements) from paper to digital due to the decommissioning of an old ATO system known as Electronic Commerce Interface (ECI), and affects activity statements from the December 2020 quarter onwards. While clients can access their myGov account to see if an activity statement has been issued, and agents can check on Online Services for Agents ( OSfA ) for each client, this is proving to be not a practical solution moving forwards.

The ATO recently advised that they will recommence issuing paper PAYG and GST quarterly instalment notices, starting with the June 2021 quarterly notices. The ATO have since been able to bring this solution forward and the interim measure will begin with the March 2021 quarterly instalment notices , not June 2021 as previously advised.

This measure applies to agents, who lodge for clients, but does not extend to self-preparers. Self-preparers will continue to receive an email reminder 21 days before the due date, where the ATO has an email address for them. Clients who are self-preparers should have already received an email notification for the December 2020 PAYG and GST instalment notices (due for payment by 2 March 2021) reminding them that their instalments were due.

ATO communication preferences