OASIS TAX XML Technical Committee JANUARY 2004BUSINESS SEGMENTAUDIENCEDATE ATO INTERFACE STANDARDS PROJECT Christine Beasley Project Manager Australian Taxation Office

ATO INTERFACE STANDARDS PROJECTwww.ato.gov.au Why? >Tax Office Change Program (easier, cheaper, more personalised) –Improving the client experience –Reducing our costs >Electronic Activity Statements Project –Prepare and lodge activity statements through 3 rd party software packages over the internet –Existing interfaces inappropriate and proprietary

ATO INTERFACE STANDARDS PROJECTwww.ato.gov.au Information supplied not part of natural system One solution fits all Cost of complying is increasing Duplicate information submitted to agencies Current world Future world Tax info stats Commerce Part of natural system Customised for different businesses Timeless Bottom up Translation … Two worlds growing together. Government aligning to the ‘standards’ adopted by businesses Work collaborative to understand business accounting practice Use interface standards to make agencies part of businesses natural systems and accounting practice Vision

ATO INTERFACE STANDARDS PROJECTwww.ato.gov.au Requirements >Tactical –Electronic delivery and lodgement of activity statements (eAS) Strategic interface standards Tactical eAS Future >Strategic –Interface standards –Internal and external impact and use

ATO INTERFACE STANDARDS PROJECTwww.ato.gov.au Approach >Research existing and developing XML standards >Select the most appropriate standards >Co-design >Use a formalised methodology for interface development >Apply standards and methodology to eAS business problem

ATO INTERFACE STANDARDS PROJECTwww.ato.gov.au Critical outcomes >Both standard and process must be reusable >Mapped user pathways to identify what type of support would be required by whom >Develop and implement a strategy to transition and further build capability in relevant areas in the Tax Office

ATO INTERFACE STANDARDS PROJECTwww.ato.gov.au An Egyptian tax receipt from the Ptolemaic period 320 to 32 BC. Tax agencies are historically and culturally fixated around a forms based approach to gathering information. Electronic interfaces provide the ability to dynamically obtain information based on a clients specific obligations rather than a one size fits all approach Forms based reporting Obligation based reporting Approach

ATO INTERFACE STANDARDS PROJECTwww.ato.gov.au Interface standard outputs >Deliverables include: –Standards –Design principles and guidelines –Process - eBOM –Templates –Reference Information Model

ATO INTERFACE STANDARDS PROJECTwww.ato.gov.au eAS outputs Electronic Activity Statement Project >Portal (Sept 2003) –Clients with digital certificates can lodge their activity statements online >Facilitated lodgment (Dec 03/Jan 04) –Transfer activity statement data from a vendors software product to the portal for lodgment >Web services (June 2004) –Clients with digital certificates can lodge their activity statements directly from within their software package

ATO INTERFACE STANDARDS PROJECTwww.ato.gov.au Lessons learned >Use bottom-up approach to develop our XBRL taxonomy >Lead times for commercial software packages to implement web services/XBRL interfaces can be very long (18 months+) >Incentives for clients to use electronic channels do not correspond to being incentives for software vendors to build electronic interfaces >Co-design is critical

ATO INTERFACE STANDARDS PROJECTwww.ato.gov.au Next steps >Transition interface standard into Tax Office business-as-usual by –Working with ICT and related stakeholders to finalise transition plan –Actively leading the transition activity >Provide ongoing support –Provide a centre of expertise for project teams –Maintenance of interface standard according to emerging trends