The DSP Architecture Reference Group (DARG) meeting was held in Melbourne on 14 November 2024.
Participation is available to those Digital service providers listed as DARG members for the 2024 year.
Key outcomes
Summary
Below is a summary of key outcomes. Note: The full key outcomes and presentation materials are available on the DSP Hub.
Landscape overview
A snapshot was provided of the October 2024 Strategic Working Group (SWG) session that included; the ATO’s Digital Strategy and Digital Identity, Small Business Future Tax Administration (SBFTA), the Commissioner’s observations since joining the ATO and his thoughts on future direction, and Activity Statement Remediation.
Also discussed was the importance of eInvoicing in Tax 3.0 as a critical piece of infrastructure that enables interoperability of businesses, and opportunities for collaboration with banking groups to simplify client transactions.
System availability
Systems will remain operational during the Christmas shutdown period with no planned maintenance.
Service Level Agreements (SLAs) need reviewing to align with real time performance expectations and to secure funding for improvements to incident communication.
Recent system capacity issues that caused significant delays to STP lodgments were discussed.
Delivery insight and future program
The updated ‘ATO Wholesale Services Proposed High Level Roadmap - 24/25FY’ was presented to the group and is available on the DSP Hub.
Callouts included:
- the removal of Small Business Energy Incentive and Skills and Training Boost labels in 2025
- updates to the International Dealings Schedule for Thin Capitalisation and debt deduction changes
- Eligible Housing Build-to-Rent projects can claim a capital works deduction at an accelerated rate of 4% from the income year they complete construction - work is underway while awaiting necessary legislation (Post meeting update: this measure passed legislation 29 November 2024).
Payday Super
A high-level overview of Payday Super and the ATO’s delivery scope was provided.
Starting 1 July 2026, the Payday Super measure will require employers to report both Ordinary Time Earnings (OTE) and Total Super Liability amounts via STP, noting:
- the ATO’s Small Business Superannuation Clearing House will be retired from 1 July 2026
- SuperStream standards will be enhanced and include allowing the acceptance of payments made via the New Payments Platform
- error messaging will be enhanced to assist employers identify and rectify issue.
More information on Payday Super is available on the ATO’s website and the fact sheet published on the Treasury website.
Sending Service Provider
A discussion was held on options to introduce authorisation in the Sending Service Provider (SSP) model for STP to strengthen security and minimise vulnerabilities.
Tax time 2024 Reflections
A broad overview of the 2024 tax time period was provided, including an executive summary, SBR2 Tax Timeline, volume comparisons and EVTE usage. Also discussed were measures implemented for increased stability and performance of platforms.
During the 2024 tax time period, all data exchange platforms maintained 99% availability with no unplanned outages. There were 3 incidents in July that caused performance degradation.
Future discussions will include options for sharing peak period trends, and enhancing analytics.
Pseudo tuples
The group supported the progression of a proposed fix for the removal of known irritant, Pseudo Tuples. Discussion provided a DSP architectural perspective and highlighted possible issues.
Changes would be made as XBRL to XML updates occur, and change logs would have explicit information for each update. Aiming for implementation in Tax Time 2025.
High level review of release documentation and ATO delivery process
Discussion focussed on documentation currently provided in API releases.
DSPs provided insights on how they use the artefacts and service registry, and the usefulness of Software Developer Kits (SDKs) and AUSkey Software Developer Kits (ADKs).
Also discussed was a preferred format, possible digitalisation, and the benefit of bringing all data into a central repository.
The group also look at how Dev Ops can be better integrated into DSP delivery of products, saving effort and bringing consistency and quality. Further discussions will occur on integration enhancements.
Other Business
From 1 November, SBR1 and SBR2 have stopped accepting TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1 in EVTE. The transition to Production is planned for 5 December with a push for finalisation by the end of January 2025. Further discussions are to occur for future implementation of TLS 1.3.
Wrap up and next steps
Reminder that submissions for the DARG membership refresh close 15 November 2024.
The group was thanked for their contributions throughout 2024.
Next meeting
To be advised.
If you have any questions, contact the secretariat by email at DPO@ato.gov.au or lodge a ticket via Online services for DSPs.
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