Tax office says it has no discretion to waive even decades-old debt, but with the ombudsman disputing this, should the media just accept it and move on?
Tax ombudsman says ATO commissioner has powers designed to modify how a tax law operates – should the media accept the ‘no discretion’ defence, and move on?Last November, thousands of Australians received letters advising them of unpaid tax debts. Some of these were decades old, dating back to a time of chequebooks and paper records.Some believed the letters were a scam with forged Australian Taxation Office letterhead, and promptly disposed of the correspondence.
Those affected dubbed the program “robotax” due to the robotic and unsympathetic nature of the initiative that reminded Australians of the ill-fated robodebt scheme, with taxpayers required toMany people who received the November letters advising of tax debts ranging from a few cents to thousands of dollars had no recollection of the amounts owing.
The ATO had previously filtered out debts if they were very old, small, or the taxpayer was aged over 70 years or earning a taxable income of less than $50,000. Now, those debts would be extracted from tax refunds regardless of when they accrued. Internal ATO documents show there had already been at least one systems error resulting in a miscalculation of the amounts to be extracted.The outlier is Crikey, which published an analysis that was supportive of the ATO scheme, and highly critical of the media in general, and Guardian Australia in particular, for “chanting ‘robotax’ non-stop”.
The ATO also has discretionary powers to waive debts under hardship. If the issue does require a legislative fix, the tax office can advise the government that a category of debts should be waived, something it could have done before rolling out the flawed campaign.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
‘Traumatising experience’: ATO under fire for denying debt relief to at-risk taxpayer in robotax falloutTax ombudsman reveals agency acknowledged person was at immediate risk of homelessness and criticises it for lack of empathy
Read more »
‘Fair thing to do’: ATO commissioner urged to wipe interest on ‘robotax’ debtThe ATO has been pushed to wipe accumulated interest on old debts that people weren’t even aware of, after it issued unexpected letters that distressed many Australians.
Read more »
‘Fair thing to do’: ATO commissioner urged to wipe interest on ‘robotax’ debtThe ATO has been pushed to wipe accumulated interest on old debts that people weren’t even aware of, after it issued unexpected letters that distressed many Australians.
Read more »
‘Fair thing to do’: ATO commissioner urged to wipe interest on ‘robotax’ debtThe ATO has been pushed to wipe accumulated interest on old debts that people weren’t even aware of, after it issued unexpected letters that distressed many Australians.
Read more »
ATO assured minister robotax scheme followed best practice – months later, it came to griefCorrespondence shows tax officials defended program, which aimed to claw back ‘on-hold’ debts, as being in line with watchdog advice
Read more »
Small Businesses Owe $24 Billion in Tax Debt, Warns Australian Tax CommissionerSmall business owners have collected billions of dollars in GST from their customers in recent years but failed to hand it to the tax office, prompting a warning from the new tax commissioner. They have also withheld billions of dollars from their employees' wages, for Pay-As-You-Go tax instalments, but they haven't handed it to tax authorities. Rob Heferen, the new commissioner of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), says small businesses collectively owe the ATO about $24 billion in collectable debt relating to their business activity statements (BAS), and he's worried about the implications.
Read more »