TAX COLLECTION – AUSTRALIA

Coalition to tackle ATO over debt hits

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Thomas Henry
The Australian – Page: 4 : 28-Oct-26

The Australian Taxation Office’s automated system for recovering outstanding tax debts will come under scrutiny at a Senate estimates hearing today. Shadow treasurer Tim Wilson says small business owners are being targeted by the ATO’s "supercharged" automatic collection scheme and being threatened with fines of up up to 200 per cent plus interest charges, but with no evidence of misconduct. Data from Tax Ombudsman Ruth Owen shows that there was a 74 per cent increase in complaints about the ATO’s tax debt collection procedures in the six months to September, compared with the same period in 2025.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, LIBERAL PARTY OF 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.

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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

Tax reform needed to break economic inertia

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 20-May-24

A new report from the Liberal-aligned thinktank Blueprint Institute has called for various reforms to Australia’s tax system in order to put an end to what it calls the nation’s economic inertia. The thinktank’s proposals include a tax on the unimproved value of land, a reduction in the company tax rate to 25 per cent, the scrapping of state-based payroll taxes and increasing the GST to 15 per cent, along with expanding the goods and services that it applies to. The Blueprint Institute claims that an extra $60 billion a year could be raised if the GST is increased to 15 per cent and its base is broadened.

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BLUEPRINT INSTITUTE, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Tax reform needed to break economic inertia

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 20-May-24

A new report from the Liberal-aligned thinktank Blueprint Institute has called for various reforms to Australia’s tax system in order to put an end to what it calls the nation’s economic inertia. The thinktank’s proposals include a tax on the unimproved value of land, a reduction in the company tax rate to 25 per cent, the scrapping of state-based payroll taxes and increasing the GST to 15 per cent, along with expanding the goods and services that it applies to. The Blueprint Institute claims that an extra $60 billion a year could be raised if the GST is increased to 15 per cent and its base is broadened.

CORPORATES
BLUEPRINT INSTITUTE, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Taxman’s take about to hit an 18-year high

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 2 : 15-May-24

The 2024 budget papers have revealed that total tax receipts as a share of GDP will increase from 23.5 per cent in 2022-23 to 23.8 per cent in 2023-24, making it the highest share since 2005-06. The impact of the stage three tax cuts will then see total taxation receipts as a share of GDP decline to 23.3 per cent in 2024-25. Australians will pay $299.4 billion in income tax in 2023-24, with that figure falling to $293.7 billion in 2024-25 as a result of the tax cuts taking effect.

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Tax bonanza but slower growth ahead

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 25 & 28 : 10-May-23

The budget papers show that the federal government’s corporate tax take is slated to total $138.4bn in 2022-23, compared with $123.3bn in 2021-22. Company tax receipts up to March were $7.6bn higher than had been forecast in Labor’s first budget in October, reflecting the increase in earnings in sectors such as resources. However, company tax receipts are forecast to total $128.7bn in 2023-24 and $119.8bn in 2024-25. Treasurer Jim Chalmers noted in his budget speech that global economic growth is expected to slow significantly over the next two years, which will affect the domestic economy, businesses and exporters.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

$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

Google settles $481m tax brawl

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Original article by David Swan
The Australian – Page: 3 : 19-Dec-19

The Australian Taxation Office’s deputy commissioner Mark Konza has welcomed Google’s decision to settle a long-running tax dispute. The technology company has agreed to pay $481m to resolve the dispute, which centred on tax audits covering the period from 2008 to 2018. A Google spokeswoman has emphasised that the settlement does not constitute an admission of liability. Google’s Australian earnings topped $1bn in 2018, but it paid just $25.6m in tax. Konza says the ATO will pursue at least one other technology company.

CORPORATES
GOOGLE INCORPORATED, GOOGLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, ATLASSIAN CORPORATION PLC, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED