Why Your Accountant Isn’t Upgrading To Windows 8 Just Yet


Whenever a new operating system emerges, there’s an inevitable period where third-party software developers have to upgrade their apps to work with it. That can have unexpected consequences, one of which is that your accountant won’t be able to use a Windows 8 machine to submit your tax documents just yet.

A message sent to accountants and tax agents from the Australian Taxation Office this week notes that Windows 8 systems can’t yet be used for tax purposes, since the Cisco-developed client required for secure transmission via the ATO’s Electronic Lodgement Service (ELS) hasn’t yet been verified for the platform:

ELS enabled software uses the third party software program CISCO VPN client to transmit information securely via ELS. The vendor of CISCO VPN client has not yet certified it will work with the recent release of Windows 8. However, we expect the vendor to certify a product in late November 2012.

This isn’t an unusual situation, and accountants are rarely on the bleeding edge when it comes to system upgrades. When it comes to tax data, I’m guessing most people would choose security over an incessant upgrade cycle.


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