Getting an ABN

This week has been hell.

With OutNumber finished and nothing else to do but procrastinate, I decided on Monday to submit OutNumber to Apple. Here came the next roadblock; Apple require all Australian developers wishing to sell their apps on the App Store to have an ABN (Australian Business Number).

At the time we thought we’d just put it in my dad’s name as his banking details are as well. We thought it would easier. Instead the online form told us we were ineligible for an ABN for no good reason. There was actually no reason given at all. We failed, end of story. Nothing we did could change this fact. The online form wasn’t going to give us an ABN.

Taking the ABR (Australian Business Register) at face value we decided to plead to Apple hoping they would forgo the ABN requirement. Under Australian law you don’t need an ABN unless you don’t want to be taxed out of existence. I’d rather make a little money than none.

At the same time I kept looking around the ABR website for any explanation as to why we failed. It just didn’t make sense. We’d applied as a sole trader running a business, not a hobby, hoping to make a reasonable sum of money, and we declined some of the tax perks like car discounts. If we were trying to defraud the ATO we wouldn’t have opted for so little, would we?

Some searching later I happened on this page. It’s the same form as on the ABR’s website except it doesn’t ask for any personal information, only the necessary details to obtain an ABN. According to this test we were eligible for an ABN but unfortunately the ATO doesn’t hand out the ABNs, the ABR does. You know I wasn’t pleased. Apple requires something they don’t need and the ABR won’t give me an ABN but the ATO would gladly.

Welcome to Limbo.

In the meantime Apple had contacted us regarding the webpages that ask for the ABN. The woman on the phone didn’t think that sounded right so she wanted me to email her with some screenshots. As a little bit of extra info I included my harrowing tale up to that point so she knew where we were coming from. I don’t know what she was thinking but she emailed back telling us to email Apple’s tax department, even though she should have known we’d have to do this anyway. We were talking about tax and business stuff anyway, why get us to email her again on matters she was just going to tell us not to email her about? I did send off another email to Apple but they haven’t replied yet.

Back to the ABN. I also sent feedback to the ABR and ATO about how they’re contradicting each other on Tuesday. A few days went by until yesterday when I was contacted and told they had stuffed up, I was eligible. The guy on the other end of the line led me though the form again, and it stuffed up again, but because he supervised it, he said he’s fix it up. What had happened all the other times (and this time as well) was that instead of registering as a “Individual/Sole Trader” it has instead put me down as a “Apprentice, trade assistant or labourer”. When coupled with the rest of my information it didn’t look too good. The problem, in the end, was due to a faulty piece of Javascript which appears to be fixed now.

One day later…

So I woke up two hours ago and with iPod touch in hand, make my way to the lounge room. First I check Twitter…nothing incredible. Then I check the App Store for any updates…none. On a whim I decided to also check my email. Since iPhone OS 3.1(.1) came out, Mail has been much more responsive. It used to suck but now…oh wait, there’s my ABN! I have an ABN! I can now submit my bloody app that I’ve been working on for almost exactly three months!

But here comes the poopy part. I need to get a digital certificate or something but the website doesn’t seem to be doing anything. Yay, this is fun…

Also, Apple require not only the number but the ABN/GST forms. Since they have a big red error on them they’re currently useless. I’ll need to contact the ABR again to get a fixed version. I can’t login to my account either but I do have my number still. Let’s hope this all works out fine.

So there you go. That’s the story. It’s been one long working week of hell. After this is all done I think I’ll write a guide for people thinking of becoming developers. For some stupid reason, Apple feels it necessary to keep all this information secret from you until you pay them the money to submit apps.

Just a little more transparency guys, just a little. And would the ABR please update their online forms. Recommending users use Internet Explorer 5, Netscape 6, and Windows is bad and very dangerous. Windows gets viruses you know…