Privacy Policy
Last updated: 21 October 2026
Australia Wide Tax Solutions Pty Ltd (ABN 92 135 466 689) ("AWTS", "we", "us" or "our") is a registered tax agent (Tax Practitioners Board registration 78641007) based in Chippendale, Sydney. We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal information.
We handle personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), the Privacy (Tax File Number) Rule 2015, and our obligations under the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 and the Code of Professional Conduct. This policy explains what we collect, why we collect it, how we use, disclose and protect it, and how you can access or correct it or make a complaint.
1. The personal information we collect
The information we collect depends on the services you ask us to provide. It may include:
- Contact details — your name, email address, phone number and postal or residential address.
- Identity information — your date of birth and identification documents we need to verify who you are, such as a driver licence or passport.
- Tax and government identifiers — your tax file number (TFN), Australian Business Number (ABN) and details relevant to your dealings with the ATO.
- Financial information — income, employment, bank account details (for example, for refunds), investments, rental property and business records, receipts and other documents relevant to your tax affairs.
- Household information — details about your spouse or dependants where they affect your tax position.
- Sensitive information — only where it is needed for your tax matters and with your consent, such as health information relevant to a medical expense or a Medicare levy exemption.
- Enquiry and communication records — information you give us through website forms, email, phone calls and appointments.
- Website information — technical information when you use our website (see section 9).
2. How we collect personal information
We collect most personal information directly from you — for example, when you contact us, complete a form on our website (such as a contact, quote or tax estimate request), book an appointment, use our client portal, or meet with us.
With your authority, we may also collect information from the ATO and other government agencies (for example, pre-filled tax data through our tax agent services), and from third parties such as your employer, bank or financial institution, other professional advisers, or a previous tax agent.
If we receive personal information we did not ask for and do not need, we will destroy or de-identify it where it is lawful and reasonable to do so.
3. Why we collect, use and disclose it
We collect, hold, use and disclose personal information to:
- provide our services — preparing and lodging tax returns, BAS and other lodgements, tax advice, accounting and bookkeeping, deceased estate work and any other services you engage us for;
- respond to your enquiries and provide quotes;
- verify your identity and manage our relationship with you, including billing;
- meet our legal and professional obligations, including under tax law, the Tax Agent Services Act 2009, record-keeping requirements and, where applicable, the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006;
- improve our services and our website; and
- send you tax reminders and information about our services (see section 8).
We will not use or disclose your personal information for any other purpose unless you consent, or it is required or authorised by law.
4. Tax file numbers
We collect your TFN only for purposes permitted by taxation, personal assistance or superannuation law — for example, to lodge your tax return and to deal with the ATO on your behalf. In line with the Privacy (Tax File Number) Rule 2015, we will not use or disclose your TFN for any other purpose, and we store it securely with access limited to staff who need it.
You are not legally required to provide your TFN, but if you choose not to, we may be unable to lodge returns or act for you with the ATO. Please do not send your TFN by ordinary email — provide it through our client portal, by phone or in person.
5. Who we disclose it to
Depending on the services we provide, we may disclose your personal information to:
- the ATO, the Tax Practitioners Board, ASIC, Services Australia and other government agencies, as needed to provide our services or as required by law;
- service providers who help us run our practice — such as IT, website hosting, data storage, practice management, client portal and customer relationship management (CRM) providers — who are required to keep it confidential;
- other professionals you ask us to deal with, such as your financial planner, lawyer, mortgage broker or a new tax agent;
- our insurers and professional advisers, where necessary; and
- anyone else you authorise, or where disclosure is required or authorised by law.
We do not sell your personal information.
6. Disclosure outside Australia
Some of our service providers store or process data outside Australia. Our website is hosted by Vercel, and website data may be processed in the United States and other locations. Enquiries submitted through our website are sent to our CRM system, which stores data in Australia. We take reasonable steps to ensure overseas recipients handle personal information in a way that is consistent with the APPs.
7. How we protect and retain your information
We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. These steps include access controls, secure systems and encrypted connections.
We keep records for as long as they are needed for the purposes described in this policy and as required by law — generally at least five years, in line with tax record-keeping requirements. After that, we securely destroy or de-identify them.
If we experience a data breach that is likely to result in serious harm, we will notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) as required by the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.
8. Direct marketing
We may send you tax-time reminders, updates and information about our services. You can opt out at any time by using the unsubscribe link in our emails or by contacting us. We never use your TFN or sensitive information for marketing.
9. Our website, cookies and analytics
When you visit our website, we and our service providers may collect technical information such as your IP address, browser and device type, the pages you visit and the site that referred you.
We use cookies and similar technologies to keep the site secure (for example, to protect it from automated attacks), to make it work properly, and to understand how it is used through analytics tools such as Google Analytics. You can disable cookies in your browser settings, although some features may not work as intended.
When you submit a form on our website, the details you provide are sent to us so we can respond. Our website links to third-party sites (such as the ATO and Google); their privacy practices are governed by their own policies.
10. Dealing with us anonymously
You can make general enquiries without identifying yourself or by using a pseudonym. However, we need to know who you are to provide tax agent services.
11. Accessing and correcting your information
You can ask to access the personal information we hold about you, or ask us to correct information you believe is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete or misleading. Please contact us using the details below. We may need to verify your identity before responding.
We aim to respond within 30 days. There is no charge to make a request, but we may charge a reasonable fee for the cost of providing access to large volumes of records — we will tell you before we do. If we refuse a request, we will explain why in writing and tell you how to complain.
12. Complaints
If you have a concern about how we have handled your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer first. We will acknowledge your complaint promptly and aim to resolve it within 30 days.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.oaic.gov.au or on 1300 363 992. You can also raise concerns about our conduct as a tax agent with the Tax Practitioners Board at www.tpb.gov.au.
13. Contact us
Attention: Privacy Officer
Australia Wide Tax Solutions, Ste 58/20-40 Meagher St, Chippendale NSW 2008
Phone: 0488 854 200
Email: info@awts.net.au
14. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The current version will always be available on our website, together with the date it was last updated.