FAQs for tax agents

1. How does the Australian Business Register (ABR) help tax agents?

Apply for an Australian business number (ABN) online - in real time

You can apply for and receive an ABN on behalf of your clients online in real time.

You can also apply online for a business tax file number (TFN) and register for goods and services tax (GST) and pay as you go (PAYG) withholding. An application for a business TFN will not be allocated in real time. We will mail you a written notification of all completed registrations.

Note: If you supply your tax agent number during a registration process, it will only be recorded against your client's activity statement role. If you require your tax agent number recorded against the income tax role, you will need to either lodge a CU transaction via ELS or use the ‘add client’ function on the Tax Agent Portal to add the client's name to your client list for income tax purposes.

Maintain (access and change) client information online

To use this service, you need to be registered with the ABR and have an AUSkey or an ATO digital certificate.

To register for an AUSkey:

Visit www.abr.gov.au/auskey
Select “Register” and follow the prompts.

If you have an active ATO digital certificate, we recommend you use it to register for an AUSkey at your earliest convenience to avoid delays in doing business with us online.

Once you have your AUSkey or ATO primary digital certificate and notified us who your clients are, you can access and change their details on the ABR.

2. How do I register to use the ABR on behalf of my clients?

A key feature of the ABR system is its use of AUSkey and digital certificate technology to protect the privacy of your clients’ non-public data.

For more information on security, refer to the Security policy.

If you are intending to use the ABR to access your clients’ records, you will need an AUSkey or an ATO primary digital certificate.

If you already use the electronic commerce interface (ECI) to lodge your e-BAS, e-IAS or other Online Services related products, you will have an AUSkey or an ATO digital certificate. If you have an Administrator AUSkey or ATO primary digital certificate you can use these to access the ABR.

However, you must still ensure that you are the authorised representative for your client for the ABR by:

ensuring that your tax agent number is recorded on each client record. If it is not, you will need to lodge an ELS CU transaction form in order to add it, or
you can add your tax agent number to your client’s record using the ‘add client’ functionality on the Tax Agent Portal.

3. How do I change a client's ABN details?

Go to the ABR homepage and select <Tax Professionals homepage> under Tax Professionals on the left menu.
Select <View/Update ABN Record> under What you can do on the left menu.
Log in:

a Log in screen will appear
select <Yes. Log me in>
Note: If CSI and/or Sun Java are not installed on your computer, an Install CSI dialog box will automatically be displayed. Select <Ok> to install these features.
select <Sign> once the Terms and Conditions dialog box is displayed
enter your password and select <Ok> to complete the log in process
enter the client’s ABN when the Tax Agent Search screen is displayed, and then select <Next>
the full ABN record is displayed
update the record.

4. What if I can’t get access to a client’s record?

There are three requirements for accessing your client’s details on the ABR.

Make sure that you are the authorised representative for your client. You can do this by ensuring your tax agent number is recorded on each client record. If it is not, you will need to either:

lodge an ELS CU transaction form
use the ‘add client’ function on the Tax Agent Portal.