Taggart Partners has noticed a recent change in the attitude of the Australian Taxation Office around outstanding income tax debts and payment arrangements.

During the GFC the ATO has been supportive of small business and allowed many to pay tax debt over an extended period of time (and in some cases interest free).

Recently we have seen a change in this approach with the ATO taking firmer action on small business debt collection. While some payment arrangements are still available to small businesses, we have observed that the ATO is being more proactive in enforcing conditions of these payment arrangements.

The best possible way to ensure that you stay in favour with the ATO is to communicate with it about any issues you might have now or might have in the future. Please let us know if you have any issues with paying your instalments or debts to the ATO as we may be able to assist.