Australian Taxation Office (ATO) information for customers 101-08030000

In 2009 Centrelink entered into an agreement with the ATO to provide tax information to the agency’s customers at service centres and Smart Centres. This was updated in 2011 to become an arrangement between the ATO and the agency.

The agreement continues for the agency to display a small suite of ATO products at service centres, and for Service Officers in service centres providing Centrelink services to provide customers with information on where to obtain tax help.

This service will be provided by Service Officers during 'tax time', from 1 July to 31 October each financial year.

The ATO will support Services Australia by:

• providing all required promotional information and materials for display in service centres
• providing computer based training material to the agency to be rolled out to all Service Officers

As part of the Shared Services Initiative with the ATO, service centres that provide Centrelink services will be registered as Tax Help Referral Centres. Tax Help is a network of community volunteers who provide a free and confidential service to help people complete their tax returns at tax time. These volunteers are people from within the community. They are not ATO staff, however they receive training and support from the ATO. Tax Help is available from 1 July to 31 October each year.

Customers who require assistance with completing their tax return should be referred to the ATO Tax Help program. Service Officers will need to provide the customer with a Tax Help referral slip with the phone contact details of their closest Tax Help Centre. Service centres that provide Centrelink services will have a pad of referral slips delivered, along with the initial delivery of ATO products.

Service Officers will not be required to assess if a customer is eligible for Tax Help. Customers who are referred to a Tax Help Centre will be assessed at the centre.