Protecting Your Tax File Number: What to Do If It’s Compromised
Your Tax File Number (TFN) is an important piece of personal information, and if it becomes compromised, whether due to identity theft, a data breach or accidental exposure, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) takes steps to protect you.
How TFNs are Typically Compromised
Compromised TFNs often result from scammers attempting, sometimes successfully, to submit fraudulent tax returns and claim refunds. Another common cause is clients clicking on phishing links, which allows scammers to access their information, leading either the client or us to contact the ATO to lock their accounts for security.
What the ATO Does when a TFN is Compromised
If the ATO identifies that your TFN may be at risk, they will:
- Monitor your tax records for any unusual activity
- Work with you to ensure your tax affairs remain secure
- Restrict certain online services to prevent unauthorised access.
These measures help protect your identity but may also limit Allan Hall’s ability as your tax agent to access and manage your tax details.
New ATO Security Measures to Prevent Annual Account Locks
The ATO has recently introduced a new procedure to help with compromised TFNs avoid ongoing account locks.
To reduce the need for annual security holds, you should:
- Contact the ATO and increase your MyID security strength to Strong – this may require adding additional identity information
- Implement additional security measures such as a unique password and security questions
- Nominate Allan Hall as your tax agent so we can continue accessing prefill data and lodging your return smoothly.
Once these security enhancements are in place and, as long as we as your tax agents are the ones accessing the prefill and lodging the return, the ATO has indicated that there should be no additional security steps required annually.
How You Can Assist Us
To ensure we can continue assisting you while keeping your TFN secure, you can:
- Confirm our access via MyGov or a phone call to the ATO if needed
- Provide relevant documents if verification is required
- Stay vigilant and report any suspicious activity to the ATO and to Allan Hall.
Your security is our priority and we are here to help. If you have any concerns about your TFN or need assistance, please reach out to us.