Tax Agent Fast Key Codes for the ATO Phone Line

A tax agent fast key code selects the enquiry team when you call the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) on 13 72 86. Enter the code once connected to bypass the spoken menu. Have your registered agent number and client proof of identity ready.

ATO Fast Key Codes for Tax Agents

Call 13 72 86 and enter the digits for the client type and enquiry you need. A fast key code skips menu options, but it does not give your call priority or replace the ATO’s identity checks.

The tables below retain the digit sequences in the ATO tax agent phone guide. Spaces separate successive digits. A short code such as 1 1 is complete. Do not add a digit to make it match longer codes.

Individual Clients

Enquiry	Fast key code
TFN matters, individual detail changes and refund bank details	1 1
Compromised clients or suspected fraud	1 2 1
Response to an ATO request about an income tax return	1 2 2
Response to a tax office lodgment notice	1 2 3
General individual income tax enquiries and franking credits	1 2 4
Individual payment plans, credit transfers and missing payments	1 3 1
Individual GIC and failure-to-lodge penalty calculations	1 3 1
Individual PAYG withholding variations	1 3 2
A letter about a debt on hold	1 3 3
Individual account explanations and study loan enquiries	1 3 4
Complex individual income tax enquiries	1 4 1
Foreign resident capital gains withholding and clearance certificates	1 4 2
Individual capital gains tax and crypto asset enquiries	1 4 3
Deceased client notification and estate setup	1 4 4

Individual income tax services are tax-agent work. A BAS agent’s authority is limited to BAS provisions, even when the telephone menu accepts the same digits.

Non-Individual and Sole Trader Clients

Enquiry	Fast key code	Listed in BAS agent topic tables
ABN application progress or refusal	2 1 1	Yes
Tax registrations, BAS revisions and replacement BAS	2 1 2	Yes
PAYG instalments	2 1 3	Yes
Fuel tax credits	2 1 4	Yes
Fringe benefits tax registration and account enquiries	2 1 4	No
Consolidation or large business enquiries	2 1 5	No
BAS and Single Touch Payroll enquiries, wine equalisation tax	2 2 2	Yes
General non-individual income tax enquiries	2 2 2	No
Response to an ATO request about an income tax return	2 2 3	No
Response to an ATO request about an activity statement	2 2 4	Yes
Non-individual account explanations	2 2 5	Yes
Credit transfers and missing payments	2 3 1	Yes
Non-individual payment plans, GIC and failure-to-lodge calculations	2 3 2	Yes
PAYG withholding for large business	2 3 3	No
Refund requests and refund progress	2 3 4	Yes
Complex income tax, consolidation technical enquiries and deceased estates	2 4 1	Deceased estates only
Imputation, international business tax, Division 7A and R&D	2 4 1	No
PAYG withholding and excise enquiries	2 4 2	Yes
Not-for-profit organisations	2 4 3	No
GST advice, GST groups, branching and joint ventures	2 4 4	Yes
GST at settlement	2 4 4	No
Non-individual capital gains tax	2 4 5	No

The BAS column follows the ATO BAS agent phone guide. A listed topic still requires authority for the relevant client obligation. For a business debt-on-hold letter, both guides list 1 3 3.

Super and Practice Support

Enquiry	Fast key code	Agent use
Super guarantee obligations under the earlier rules	3 1 1	Tax and BAS agents within authority
Super obligations under Payday Super	3 1 2	Tax and BAS agents within authority
Income streams and contribution cap enquiries	3 1 2	Tax agent guide
Direct debit updates	3 1 3	Tax agent guide’s bank-detail direction
SMSF enquiries	3 2	Tax agent guide
Superannuation payment plans	3 3	Tax and BAS agents within authority
Compassionate release, first home super saver and downsizer enquiries	3 4	Tax agent guide
General super enquiries and Division 293 tax	3 5	Tax agent guide
SBR software, lodgment program and Online services for agents support	4 1	Tax and BAS agent guides
Access Manager support	2 1 1	Tax and BAS agent guides
Individual complaints	4 2 1	Tax and BAS agent guides
Business and other complaints	4 2 2	Tax and BAS agent guides
Superannuation complaints	4 2 3	Tax and BAS agent guides
Fraud, phoenix activity, tax evasion and unpaid super reports	4 3	Tax and BAS agent guides
Recent disaster assistance	4 4	Tax and BAS agent guides

The super obligation code depends on which rules apply to the period you are asking about. Use the official guides’ period descriptions before selecting 3 1 1 or 3 1 2. The tax guide also retains a clearing-house entry under 3 1 3, but describes that service as permanently closed.

ATO codes change. Keep the official tax or BAS guide bookmarked and use its topic descriptions when a letter or unusual issue needs a different route.

What the ATO Asks You Before Discussing a Client

The ATO asks for your registered agent number (RAN), a client account identifier and proof relating to that account. Have these available before you dial:

• Your practice’s RAN and your own name and role.
• The client’s TFN or ABN, with the correct account name.
• The obligation you need to discuss, such as income tax or activity statements.
• A relevant ATO notice or lodged return no more than five years old.
• Your signed authority to act and any correspondence about the problem.

For an agent already recorded against the relevant obligation, proof can include a notice-of-assessment sequence number or correspondence reference. The ATO also accepts specified information from a lodged return. See its proof-of-identity requirements by access type.

A client-list entry is the usual way to establish your appointment, but it is not the ATO’s only telephone access category. Its guidance also covers agents recorded for another obligation and agents not yet recorded. Those categories require extra client proof. An agent not listed must also give verbal assurance of a signed authority.

Where another agent holds the relevant obligation, the ATO specifies additional requirements for recent supporting records. Passing identity checks does not complete a business client’s required nomination. Resolve the appointment and access issue before relying on a call to deal with the missing lodgment.

An unregistered staff member must call as an authorised representative, identify their role and meet the account’s proof requirements. Working at the practice or knowing its RAN does not alone establish authority. For client-specific disclosure, have the registered agent handle the call if the staff member cannot establish that authority. The ATO’s authorised-contact guidance distinguishes tax-agent access from a BAS agent’s restricted scope.

Phone or Online Services: Which to Use

Use Online services for agents for a task you can complete there. Phone for an enquiry requiring an officer’s assistance. The ATO directs callers back to online services when those services can resolve their request.

Task	Starting point
Check income tax lodgment progress or outstanding activity statements	Online services for agents
Read balances, transactions and account statements	Online services for agents
Create an eligible straightforward payment plan	Online services for agents
Update supported client details or refund bank details	Online services for agents
Request a lodgment deferral or extension	Online services for agents
Request GIC or failure-to-lodge penalty remission	Online services for agents
Renegotiate an existing payment plan or discuss complex debt	Relevant payment code
Discuss lodgment program support or a portal problem you cannot resolve	4 1
Respond to a specific ATO contact request	Code matching the letter and client type

For routine work, the Online services for agents guide helps staff use the correct screen before calling. A payment-plan call needs the client’s account and proposed arrangement ready. Use the code for an individual, non-individual or super debt.

Distinguish a lodgment program support problem from a deferral request. Code 4 1 handles program enquiries, while the ATO guides direct deferral and extension requests online. The tax agent lodgment program guide explains the program context. Penalty calculations have phone codes, but remission requests go online too.

Ask for the ATO receipt or reference number before every call ends. Save it on the client file with the issue, advice received and agreed next action. If the officer provides no number, record that fact. Add the call time so the next staff member can explain the contact.

Calling About a Client You Have Just Taken on

Before calling about a new client, confirm that the practice can access the client’s relevant obligation. A nomination that exists without the agent completing the client addition can leave the practice unable to see the return or account.

Use the agent nomination guide for the appointment steps. Where business client-to-agent linking applies, follow the business linking guide and confirm completion in the agent account. Nomination for one entity does not appoint you for every entity in its group.

Collect the client’s legal name, TFN or ABN and the obligation you will manage. Keep the signed authority with the latest relevant ATO notice or lodged return. Record the client’s contact details and nomination status, without copying identity documents or TFNs into a general call log.

A myGov linking code is different from an agent nomination. It links an individual’s own myGov account to the ATO. The individual enquiry number is 13 28 61. A practice calling the agent line does not replace the client’s personal identity checks. Business nomination support uses 13 28 66, as described in the ATO nomination instructions.

New Client Call Note

Keep this reusable note in the client file. Refer to the protected client record for identifiers instead of repeating a TFN.

Client file reference:
Entity and obligation:
Caller and authority:
Nomination and agent-link status:
Call date and time:
Phone number and fast key code:
Issue and affected lodgment:
Relevant notice or return reference:
Online checks already completed:
ATO receipt or reference number:
Advice and agreed action:
Action owner and follow-up point:

For a missing lodgment, state whether it is absent from the portal, shown as overdue or already lodged with a receipt. Those are different problems. Have the lodgment receipt available if your tax software reports success but the ATO account does not show it.

Tax Agent Phone Services Beyond the Main Line

The registered agent line operates from 8 am to 6 pm, Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays. The ATO contact page uses local time unless it expressly labels a different time zone. For your practice, that means the published hours use your local time.

When a business letter gives 13 28 66, the agent guides direct practitioners to 13 72 86 with code 2 3 5. Use the letter-routing table in your guide when replying to other community phone numbers.

The agent guides also list separate support numbers. Use 1300 287 539 for myID or Relationship Authorisation Manager help and 1300 852 232 for hosted SBR software notification support. The direct debit and refund help line is 1800 802 308.

If the ATO has contacted you and supplied a call-back route, use the instructions in that contact. Its compliance call-back line requires the supplied PIN. Lodgment and payment call-back lines are for people the ATO has asked to call back.

For an unresolved call, ask the officer which team can resolve the issue and whether a referral or return call is needed. Record the referral and expected next contact. Keep following the existing case rather than starting an unrelated enquiry each time.

Tax practitioner assistance is an escalation route for eligible administrative client or practice matters after standard channels have failed. Submit its completed form through practice mail. It excludes debt and payment plans, remission requests, objections and lodgment obligations, which have their own routes.

Use the complaints route when you need the ATO to address its handling of a matter, such as unresolved service failures. Phone the appropriate 4 2 code or submit a complaint online. Give the existing references and the outcome you want. The ATO closes a duplicated tax practitioner assistance request where the matter is already with its complaints team.

Deferral requests, remission requests and the tax practitioner assistance form must use the specified online channels. Choose that channel before joining the phone queue, then retain its receipt for any follow-up.