The Tax Practitioners Board (TBP) has recommended that all tax agents begin proof of identity verifications for their new clients. Strong client verification helps protect you and your clients from becoming a victim of identity crime which has increased with sophisticated technology. To make this a smooth process, the ATO and TBP have developed guidelines to be used along with TBP's Proof of identity requirements for client verification for consistency and alignment. | UI Text Box |
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| Is the verification mandatory? No, but the ATO and TBP recommend verifying your new clients straight away to minimise any risk of identity theft. This is expected to be made mandatory later in 2022. |
Verifying your clientsWhen you take on a new client, verify their proof of identity before providing any services. The details that need to be verified depend on the type of client: - Individuals
- Individuals (with a representative)
- Non-individuals
There are minimum requirements that are needed to verify the identity of a client. For example, an individual client needs verification of their full name and date of birth and/or residential address, with at least one primary photo id such as a passport. See the verification requirements from the Tax Practitioners Board (TBP) that shows what information should be verified and example of documents that can be used for identification. Use the Factsheet for your clients so they know what documents and information are required for verification. Changes in AE/AOIn AE/AO, we've created a new tab called Proof of Identity (POI) to record the proof of identity for your clients. 
When you enter the POI for your clients, we will display the status in other sections within AE/AO. - On the Main tab:
- the tax - Client search window
- the Lodgment manager window
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| If you don't see the field, right-click and select Field Chooser and select POI status from the list. |
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| title | Entering your client verifications |
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| - Go to the client you want to record the proof of identity for.
- Click the Proof of Identity (POI) tab.
 Image Modified - Select Add Record.
- In the Proof of Identity Verification window, select Yes or No on whether you need to verify your client's identity.
If you select No, you need to complete all the details including the reason why you're not verifying the identity of the client. 
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The Set expiry date field is optional. You can use |
If you select Yes, complete the sections (Client ID, Representative ID, and Authorisation, Documents sighted) depending on if they're an individual or non-individual client. Click Save. Depending on what you've selected and entered, the Proof of Identity (POI) tab will display the details.
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