Published July 18, 2012 | 
The other day I was getting ready to process payment summaries for a client and came across an annoying problem – one of the employees had supplied an invalid Tax File Number (TFN)! I was trying to create electronic summaries but the program I was using wouldn’t let me proceed until I had the correct TFN.
This was extremely frustrating since there were 15 summaries to create! My client suggested that I just hand-write the summaries (SAD FACE!) Not being a fan of hand writing summaries especially 15 of them, I attempted to call the now ex-employee – you guessed it, the telephone number did not exist! I then sent the ex-employee an email and waited 3 days for a response – nothing!! God Damn! What to do??? I was resigning myself to the fact that I would have go down the “hand-written road” when I read a tweet on Twitter from Gov Reports that said if you didn’t have the correct TFN, you could use an exemption code from the ATO! Here is our little exchange:
@GovReportsAU TIP : If TFN is unavailable for a payee please use a valid TFN Exemption Code from ATO for EMPDUPES
@GovReportsAU @eBAS_Accounts Here is the link :http://bit.ly/NCKhgO (Thank you @ato_gov_au!) It will also be in #GovReports FAQ link soon : http://bit.ly/P9rvCu
Yipee I said (on the inside lol!) and proceeded to find out more about this exemption loveliness! Here is the link to the ATO page that lists various exemption codes you may use: Tax File Number Exemption Codes
When you visit this page, you’ll find loads of codes (nice rhyming!) but the one you want for an invalid TFN’s is 987654321.
Use this code when an employee has quoted an invalid TFN or no TFN at all (naughty naughty!). I used the code and was able to proceed with producing electronic payment summaries and the all important empdupe file for my client. I was happy and my client was happy. Good result! Special thanks goes out to Gov Reports for their timely advice here; had I not read that tweet I believe I would have one sore writing hand right about now! Thanks!
PS – this is also a wonderful example of how businesses help one another everyday on Twitter. If you’re not a Twitter user, you should be – people are so friendly and helpful 
