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16 August 2023
Amanda Murtagh
[FYI request #23448 email]
Dear Amanda Murtagh
Thank you for your request made under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA), received
on 9 July 2023. You requested the following:
I refer to a technical issue where correspondence is sent from the Inland Revenue
Department (IRD) via the myIR website.
The technical issue involving, correspondence sent to a customer directly via myIR
from the IRD having the status of marked/indicated as viewed, prior to an individual,
tax agency or employee of a tax agency having viewed the correspondence.
1. How many Tax Agencies are affected by this technical issue?
2. How many myIR individual users are affected by this technical issue?.
3. How many myIR company user accounts are affected by this technical issue?
4. What date did the Inland Revenue Department notify affected users of the myIR
website that this technical issue has occurred?
5. Correspondence of this notification.
On 9 August we advised you that we were working to provide you with a response without
further undue delay. I apologise again for failing to provide a response to your request
within the statutory timeframe.
Background
Inland Revenue’s
myIR system (myIR) underwent an update in November 2021, called
Version 12. This update was carried out in response to feedback received from tax agents
stating they were receiving too many notifications from Inland Revenue in relation to their
clients. A rule was therefore created in myIR to mark letters as “read” in certain
circumstances.
This rule was also applied to cover general customer communication; for example, when
Inland Revenue issues a physical letter as well as a digital letter to a customer,
myIR will
mark the digital letter as “read”.
As part of Version 12, Inland Revenue implemented a subscription service (the service)
for tax agents. The service means tax agents will only receive notifications for customer
accounts they have subscribed to. For customer accounts tax agents are not subscribed
to,
myIR automatically marks letters issued as “read”.
Therefore, Inland Revenue is confidently able to confirm that: the service implemented in
myIR as part of Version 12 is working as intended, that no technical issue exists, and that
there is no unauthorised access to customer accounts. More information on managing
client
mail
subscriptions
and
alerts
for
tax
agents
is
available
at:
www.ird.govt.nz/roles/tax-agents/managing-client-mail-subscriptions-and-alerts-ta.
www.ird.govt.nz
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Response to your OIA questions
As no technical issue exists, I am refusing your request in full under section 18(g) of the
OIA, as the information requested is not held by Inland Revenue. MyIR is working as
advocated for by the tax agent community, and therefore no further communication has
been distributed to customers about the service other than communications part of
the Version 12 release in 2021.
Right of Review
If you disagree with my decision on your OIA request, you can ask an Inland Revenue
review officer to review my decision. To ask for an internal review, please email the
Commissioner of Inland Revenue via
: [email address]. Alternatively, under section 28(3) of the OIA, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman
to investigate and review my decision. You can contact the office of the Ombudsman via
email a
t: [email address]. If you choose to have an internal review, you can still ask the Ombudsman for a review.
Publishing of OIA response
Please note that Inland Revenue regularly publishes responses to requests that may be of
interest to the wider public on its website. We consider this response is of public interest
so will publish this response in due course. Your personal details or any information that
would identify you will be removed prior to it being published.
Thank you for your request.
Yours sincerely
Dan Blank
Domain Lead – Digital & Customer Experience
www.ird.govt.nz
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