Digital identity:

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Digital identity who wants to know and why?
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• Introduction
• The ATO interacts with most of the community, we
• Answered 12 million telephone enquiries
• Provided 10 000 pieces of advice
• Received 32 million forms
• Processed 18 million payments
• Integrity of the tax system relies in part on
  people trusting us with personal information
• We need to accurately identify our clients

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• Some Context
• Early adopter of technology
• Electronic lodgement service for tax agents
  introduced in 1990
• Electronic return for self preparers world
  first
• First country to introduce a new tax system in an
  online environment
• Implementing major tax reform was a driver for
  developing a new level of sophistication in
  online and electronic products
• Development is not possible without reliable
  digital identification
• Balance between need for information and a
  persons right to privacy

4

• Why digital?
• Our clients told us they wanted electronic
  services that make their dealings with us easier,
  cheaper and more personalised.
• It is affordable and possible electronically.

5

• Electronic services introduced during reform
• Electronic Commerce Interface
• eGrant
• Australian Business Register
• Interactive, real time models will be used in the
  future to provide two-way services

6

• Electronic services introduced as a result of
  listening to the community research
• The Tax Agents Portal
• Provides online access to client information and
  Tax Office systems
• Currently piloting extension of the portal
  concept to businesses

7

• Whats next?
• Published a 3 year program
• Client Relationship Management project
  personalising our dealings with clients
• Desktop product for client profiling
• Contact management system

8

• Use of our electronic services
• Last year
• Over 500,000 individuals lodged their tax
  returns electronically
• 8 million individual returns lodged by tax agents
• 250 000 ABNs issued electronically
• 80 000 clients regularly use our Electronic
  Commerce Interface
• 10 500 tax agents now have access to the Tax
  Agent Portal

9

• Protecting the integrity of our system
• Digital identity helps us to protect the
  integrity of the tax system
• The community expects us to detect and take
  action on non-compliance
• Client profiling and data matching helps us be
  more targeted in our compliance efforts

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• Protecting the integrity of our system (cont)
• We operate under a strict legal framework
• Data matching results must be accurate before we
  investigate further
• Among other uses used to detect those outside the
  system involved in cash economy, those involved
  in fraud
• Secure digital identification systems are
  important in combating identity fraud

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• Protecting privacy
• Tax Office takes confidentiality very seriously
• Four major issues
• security
• authentication
• authorisation
• non-repudiation

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• Protecting privacy
• Tax Office leading with Gatekeeper protocols
• Recognised as a registration and certification
  authority
• Need to find ways to make it easier to use
  digital certificates
• Working to make our systems fit with the systems
  people already use

13

• Conclusion
• Digital identity who wants to know?
• The Tax Office wants to know that its dealing
  with the right person
• Why?
• So we can provide the secure on-line services our
  clients have asked us for
• So we can continue to protect the integrity of
  the system
• So we can tailor services to suit the needs of
  our clients