ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES – AUSTRALIA

ATO interest on late debt soars as waivers denied

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Original article by Edmund Tadros
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 16-Sep-25

It has been revealed that the interest on overdue tax bills to the Australian Tax Office stood at $9.4 billion last financial year, with the ATO tightened its approach to debt collection. The interest imposed on outstanding tax debts is known as the "general interest charge", and taxpayers can ask the ATO for the charge to be cancelled by what is known as a remission request, but figures show it is refusing more of these requests than was previously the case.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE

Big tax debts forcing closures

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Original article by Cameron Micallef
The Australian – Page: 15 : 14-Jan-25

Data from CreditorWatch shows that 5,097 businesses owed more than $100,000 to the Australian Taxation Office in 2024; some 1,715 of these businesses were declared insolvent or ceased trading. In addition, the owners of more than 2,430 firms opted for restructuring rather than liquidation. The ATO advised in November than it intends to ‘aggressively’ pursue outstanding small business tax debts, which totalled $34bn at the end of 2024. CreditorWatch CEO Patrick Coghlan has defended the ATO’s stance, arguing that it is simply trying to collect the tax that all companies are obliged to pay.

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CREDITOR WATCH PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE

Big tax debts forcing closures

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Original article by Cameron Micallef
The Australian – Page: 15 : 14-Jan-25

Data from CreditorWatch shows that 5,097 businesses owed more than $100,000 to the Australian Taxation Office in 2024; some 1,715 of these businesses were declared insolvent or ceased trading. In addition, the owners of more than 2,430 firms opted for restructuring rather than liquidation. The ATO advised in November than it intends to ‘aggressively’ pursue outstanding small business tax debts, which totalled $34bn at the end of 2024. CreditorWatch CEO Patrick Coghlan has defended the ATO’s stance, arguing that it is simply trying to collect the tax that all companies are obliged to pay.

CORPORATES
CREDITOR WATCH PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE

Australian social services department underpaid dozens of staff $400,000 over five years

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Original article by Luke Henriques-Gomes
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 22-Dec-21

Documents released under freedom of information laws, show that a key federal government agency has admitted to underpaying its staff. The Department of Social Services self-reported the underpayments totalling more than $400,000 to the Fair Work Ombudsman. The Community & Public Sector Union contends that the Department had been aware of the underpayments in 2017 and had failed to address the issue until it was issued with a compliance notice by the FWO in July 2021. A total of 68 current and former employees of the Department’s communications services branch were affected by the underpayments.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION

Breaking silence on ATO

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Original article by Robert Gottliebsen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 1-Apr-21

Businessman John Dahlsen has revealed the onerous demands that the Australian Taxation Office makes on the nation’s 500 largest private companies. The owner of Victoria-based building materials supplier Dahlsens estimates that complying with the ATO’s request for information about its operations would require the company to submit about 1,000 pages of documentation. The ATO also wants this information to be provided within 27 working days. Dahlsen says the ATO’s implied threat that it will subject companies to audits if they fail to supply all requested information is an abuse of power and process.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, DAHLSENS BUILDING CENTRES

Tax Office to review rejected JobKeeper bids

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 21-Dec-20

Karen Payne, the Inspector-General of Taxation & Taxation Ombudsman, has found that some businesses may have been unfairly denied coronavirus assistance by the Australian Taxation Office. As a result of her findings, the ATO will re-evaluate rejected applications for business cashflow payments and the $90 billion JobKeeper program. However, despite her findings, Payne and professional bodies such as the Institute of Public Accountants have praised the ATO for the way in which it quickly implemented government assistance programs during the pandemic.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR-GENERAL OF TAXATION AND TAXATION OMBUDSMAN, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE

Union takes Tax Office bosses to Federal Court in work from home row

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Original article by Noel Towell
The Age – Page: Online : 9-Dec-20

The Australian Services Union has commenced legal action against senior executives at the Australian Taxation Office. The ASU alleges that the executives – including Commissioner of Taxation Chris Jordan – were in breach of workplace laws and the ATO’s enterprise agreement, which includes working at home provisions. The union claims that ATO staff who had been working from home due to the pandemic were ordered to return to their offices without the required notice period when the federal government announced stimulus measures such as the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme.

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AUSTRALIAN SERVICES UNION, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE

ATO probes Rio on its pricing of aluminium

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 25-Feb-20

Rio Tinto’s Australian aluminium business is the subject of a transfer pricing assessment by the Australian Taxation Office. It is understood that the ATO’s investigation is looking at Rio’s Boyne aluminium smelter in Queensland, and the manner in which transactions between Boyne and Rio’s Singapore marketing hub have been structured in recent years. The ATO’s investigation comes at a time when Rio is holding discussions with governments concerning a possible rescue package for its loss-making Australian aluminium smelters. The ATO also launched a $212 million transfer pricing claim against Alcoa in December.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, ALCOA OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Alcoa owes $212m taxes, ATO claims

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 19 : 24-Feb-20

Alcoa has stated in its latest financial report that its Australian unit has been served with a $212 million tax bill by the Australian Taxation Office. Alcoa has stated that the ATO is of the view that Alcoa of Australia has underpaid tax on the sale of alumina, which it produces in Western Australia. A spokeswoman for Alcoa of Australia has stated that it disputes the ATO’s claim, and it plans to make use of the statutory rights available to it to challenge the ATO’s position.

CORPORATES
ALCOA INCORPORATED, ALCOA OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE

$15b small business tax debt in sights

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 6-Jan-20

Inspector-General of Taxation and Taxation Ombudsman Karen Payne is conducting a probe into the Australian Taxation Office’s $45 billion debt book. Payne’s examination includes the investigation of around $15 billion in small business debt to the ATO, with Payne saying her review will help to identify which areas of the economy are seeing increases in undisputed debt collections. As well as her review of the ATO’s debt book, Payne’s office is also investigating the tax administration of deceased estates.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE