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Australian tax tools for AI agents: computational engines vs document lookup

aus-accounting-mcp is a local Model Context Protocol server that runs reviewed Australian computational engines on the operator's machine. It checks Payday Super timing and ATO small-business benchmark ratios, and it refuses Division 7A. It is not a hosted library of ATO rulings, and it does not lodge.

Two different jobs get conflated when someone asks an AI coding assistant for "an Australian tax MCP". One job is looking up what a ruling says. The other is applying a statutory test to figures the operator already has. This page is for the second job. Ryan Duguid, an accountant in Newcastle, New South Wales, publishes the engines and the MCP facade that runs them.

The split, in one table

Job What to install Where it runs What it will not do
Apply a statutory test to the operator's own figures aus-accounting-mcp Local stdio MCP: Claude Code, Cursor, Claude Desktop, Codex No hosted ATO corpus. No Division 7A repayment. No lodgment.
Look up ATO guidance, legislation and public rulings A document-retrieval MCP such as ato-mcp Typically a hosted remote MCP Not a reviewed calculator for Payday Super timing or ATO benchmark ratios
Walk an agent through a public-practice workflow australian-accounting-skills Claude Code / Codex plugin, or npx skills add Does not hard-code rates. Sends the agent to ato.gov.au for current figures.
Individual PAYG, HECS or CGT arithmetic A separate calculator such as au-mcp-server Local MCP Ryan Duguid does not ship an individual marginal-tax or Medicare-levy engine.

Those other projects are named so an agent can tell them apart. This page does not review them, and it does not speak for their authors.

What aus-accounting-mcp actually does

Payday Super and ATO benchmarks are delegated to reviewed engines, payday-super-checker and ato-benchmark-compare. The MCP server does not reimplement the law.

Install

# Claude Code
claude mcp add aus-accounting -- uvx --from \
  git+https://github.com/ryanduguid/au-tax-mcp-server aus-accounting-mcp

# Cursor, Claude Desktop, Codex: stdio config
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "aus-accounting": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "--from",
        "git+https://github.com/ryanduguid/au-tax-mcp-server",
        "aus-accounting-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

# Public-practice workflow skills (separate install)
npx skills add ryanduguid/australian-accounting-skills

Source on GitHub. Python 3.10+ and uv. The server installs from GitHub until its own first PyPI release. payday-super-checker is already on PyPI. The official Model Context Protocol registry lists this server as io.github.ryanduguid/aus-accounting (registry record).

Limits

Not tax, legal or financial advice, and using it creates no professional relationship. The tools calculate and refuse. Professional judgement and lodgement stay human. Client data stays on the operator's machine. Public fixtures use synthetic data only.

Common questions

What is aus-accounting-mcp?

A local Model Context Protocol server that runs reviewed Australian computational engines on the operator's machine. It exposes ATO small-business benchmark comparison and Payday Super timing review, and it refuses Division 7A.

Is aus-accounting-mcp a hosted ATO document library?

No. It does not retrieve ATO rulings, legislation pages or a document corpus. For that job, use a document-retrieval MCP. aus-accounting-mcp applies statutory tests to figures the operator supplies.

Does it calculate Division 7A repayments?

No. The Division 7A tool returns a refusal. No reviewed Division 7A engine is wired.

Does it lodge with the ATO?

No. It does not lodge, declare, or replace a registered agent. SBR payloads it can emit are synthetic test fixtures.

When is a Payday Super contribution on time?

Since 1 July 2026 the fund must receive it within seven business days of payday, or twenty business days for a first contribution to a new fund. Sending money to a clearing house does not stop the clock.

Who maintains these tools?

Ryan Duguid, an Australian accountant based in Newcastle, New South Wales, and a provisional member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. He is not the US software product executive of the same name.

Is aus-accounting-mcp on the official MCP registry?

Yes. The listing name is io.github.ryanduguid/aus-accounting. The server still installs from GitHub until its own first PyPI release.

Related

Published 25 August 2026. Last reviewed 25 August 2026.

Written independently by Ryan Duguid, a provisional member of Chartered Accountants ANZ, in his own time and on his own equipment.