ATO should really publish open api's and concentrate on the server side and leave client side to users. This way developers may develop client side with features to meet specific users. (For example. a school teacher and a self employed plumber would reasonably different income tax returns) This also creates opportunities for development and of course Open Source software dev. but admittedly also for non-open source ones. ATO could have a certification process where by software are tested against their servers and api, and certified by them. ATO may which to develop a very generic web based client for individual with simple tax needs and make it available. The present model is not sustainable in the long term, unless ATO is committed to have a development team to continue maintain eTax software on all OS'es, current existing and new ones in future - This is not ATO core mission. ATO is very much aware of that and is very determined to get away from it. The current eTax software is a Delphi application developed by an independent software developer contractor ... IT will have to be junked sooner or later. So it will happen. What is important is that they adopt a fundamentally changed model in the future which is open and future proof. So they should really concentrate on the server backend to receive and process (ie: validate submitted tax data) - At the moment part of the data validation logic is in the client end (eTax software) - and that changes from year to year as Tax rules/laws evolve. It was a valid decision to design it as such given the state of web application when eTax came to existence (I believe eTax was conceived 10+yrs ago). Otherwise it would have been a frustrating experience for end users, to have a web application with data validation going back to the server and back to browser at every screen refresh - imagine this every year end of October! (ie Now!) - but web application has evolved since - it is probably more feasible now ? BTW: There are countries with full web interface, but their tax rules/laws are much simpler also. Cheers Daniel. "Sven@GMX" <Sven_Andriske@gmx.net> wrote:

On 29/10/12 15:41, Chris Samuel wrote:

...

Hi folks,

After the last talk I thought this might interest people, the link was sent in response to @piawaugh on Twitter:

http://www.ato.gov.au/corporate/content.aspx?doc=/content/00325407.htm&pc=001/001/052/001&mnu=0&mfp=&st=&cy=

It's a transcript of an audio grab by the Tax Commissioner Michael D'Ascenzo from around July this year from the look of it, and it says:

# [...] but really in the next couple of years we're hoping to # develop a platform that is application agnostic, in other words # rather than whether you've got a Mac or you've got a Microsoft # platform it'll apply on your tablet, it'll apply on your Linux # system, it'll apply on a whole range of other web based # interfaces. So I think that's the way for the future to allow # all the new digital devices to work rather than just specific # platforms.

So promising words, but not a firm commitment from the look of it.

cheers, Chris

It's about time to have a native e-tax application for other OS's than MS Windows. Not just because it keeps crashing and freezing using wine.

Sven