ATO digital services and systems downtime
UPDATE: As of 14th December 2016, it appears that the ATO website is back up and running along with the Tax Agent Portal and BAS Agent Portal. The rest of the ATO systems including call centre systems will be bought back online shortly over the next few days. Although the ATO website and Tax/BAS Agent Portal is back online, these systems have not yet been bought back to be fully functional however the ATO is aware of this issue and is working around the clock to rectify these problems.
“Since approximately 9:30 am AEDT on Monday 12 December 2016, the entire Australian Taxation Office website — including the tax agent and BAS agent portals — shut down due to a ‘world first’ hardware issue.”
Since approximately 9.30am AEDT Monday, 12th December 2016, the entire Australian Taxation Office (ATO) website including the tax agent portal has shutdown due to a “world first” hardware issue. Many internal processing systems for ATO staff were also affected by these hardware issues leading to many ATO internal systems being taken offline.
The media statement released today from the acting Chief Information Officer Steve Hamilton explains that; ‘these outages relate to a new hardware storage solution that was upgraded in November 2015. Our primary back-up systems, that should have kicked in immediately, were also affected. We understand this is the first time this problem has been encountered anywhere in the world and we are working with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to determine the underlying cause. While these investigations are ongoing, we have had to implement alternative recovery procedures that are taking longer to complete.’
The ATO have not announced a definite time frame on when the general public including tax practitioners can expect the ATO online services to resume operating.
Please note that during this time whilst the ATO are working to resolve their hardware and system issues, we are unable to access our clients accounts with the ATO through the tax agent portal, nor are we able to liaise on client specific matters with the ATO through the tax agent phone services hotline.
For the latest updates on the status of the ATO’s online services, please visit the ATO twitter page at https://twitter.com/ato_gov_au
“Although the website and agent portals were restored, many systems were still not fully functional while the ATO worked around the clock to rectify the underlying problems.”
About the author
Cayle Petritsch - Director & Wealth Advisor
Cayle Petritsch, Director and Wealth Advisor, works with our existing clients who have recognised the importance of business owners making strategic financial choices not only for their company, but for their personal finances too.
Cayle saw a great opportunity to expand North Advisory’s services into SMSF/superannuation, personal wealth management, asset protection services and other crucial personal finance facets that business owners need to consider.
His approach to wealth management allows you to receive highly personalised wealth advice. Working closely with Marius, Cayle understands the unique needs of every client, from their lifestyle and business goals to their retirement plans.
Key Takeaways
The ATO experienced a major systems outage due to an unexpected hardware failure.
The failure affected the public website and key portals used by tax and BAS agents, creating widespread disruption for taxpayers and practitioners.
Primary and backup systems both encountered issues — making this a rare and complex incident.
Because the backup system did not function as intended, the ATO had to implement alternative recovery procedures.
Some services were restored within a couple of days, but full system recovery took longer.
Although core portals were brought back online, parts of the ATO’s processing ecosystem remained affected for some time while fixes were completed.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What happened to the ATO’s digital services during the downtime event?
The ATO’s website, tax agent portal and BAS agent portal were taken offline unexpectedly because of a serious hardware failure, causing major disruption to online access and internal systems for staff.
When did the ATO systems first go down?
The outage began at around 9:30 am AEDT on Monday 12 December 2016, when a new hardware storage solution unexpectedly failed.
What systems were affected by the downtime?
Not only was the public website unavailable, but internal processing systems used by ATO staff were also impacted, meaning many online services and phone support channels were disrupted.
Were the systems restored quickly?
The ATO brought the website and agent portals back online by 14 December 2016, but some systems were still not fully functioning as the recovery continued.
Why was the outage so significant?
The downtime was caused by a rare hardware failure that affected both primary systems and backup storage, meaning the usual fail-safe processes did not work as expected, and recovery took extra time.
Was the outage only limited to online services for the public?
No — the article notes that many internal ATO systems were also affected and taken offline due to the hardware issue.
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