I realised today that even though my wife received her tax return weeks ago, I hadn’t received any notification that my bill was due (independent media business wasn’t earning enough for PAYG - long story).
Anyway, my wife suggested I log into My.Gov to check if the bill was there.
Cue an hour of pain and frustration I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. My Gov is awful, and everyone involved in creating it should feel awful about themselves.
To start with, I tried to log in with my email. Nothing. Password reset with my email received nothing.
So I did a “forget username” request, even though it clearly states you can sign in with either your email or username.
Sure enough, I get a string of numbers that represents my username. So I try to log in with that.
Nope! No entry for you!
So I reset password with my username. Sure enough, the 2-factor alerts come through… to the email I had entered in the first place. I work through the process, reset my password and return to the login screen to login.
Only, My Gov tells me I have the incorrect password. I just reset it, but sure, maybe I missed a character when I copy/pasted.
I reset my password again. This time I am doubly careful to make sure I copy and paste everything.
Once again, it doesn’t work.
I’m frustrated, to be sure. But also stubborn. So I decide to revisit MyID.
Ugh.
Because I was using a different phone to the last time I logged in to MyID, I had to do the whole process again. Enter my passport number. My Medicare Card. My personal information. The date of birth selector pops up at the bottom of the screen, so that when you try to scroll through, you inevitably kick open the app switcher function. You have to enter your date of birth three times.
Eventually – eventually! – I managed to get in. Only, it opens up a quasi-browser window pop up overlaying the MyGov app, so even the slightest touch at the top of the screen closes the window.
It’s truly awful.
But sure enough, my tax notice was there. And now I am noticeably poorer, not just in money, but in spirit.