You may wonder how unpaid tax debts will impact you when you are planning to borrow money from a lender. 

If you aren’t already engaged with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to manage your tax debts, you may want to read this article further as the disclosure of business tax debts measure took effect on 21 February 2020.

When will the ATO report business tax debts ?

The ATO may report a business tax debt if an entity meets the following criteria:

  • has an Australian business number (ABN), and is not an excluded entity;
  • has one or more tax debts, of which at least $100,000 is overdue by more than 90 days;
  • is not engaging with the ATO to manage their tax debt; or
  • doesn’t have an ongoing complaint about the proposed reporting of their entity’s tax debt information with the Inspector-General of Taxation Ombudsman.

An entity is excluded if it’s either, a:

  • deductible gift recipient;
  • complying superannuation fund;
  • registered charity; or
  • government entity.

What's the process ?

The ATO will send you a intent to disclose notice if they plan to disclose a business’ tax debt.

The notice will tell you what steps you can take to avoid your tax debt information being reported.

You will have 28 days from receiving the notice to take relevant action.

If you believe the ATO has made a mistake with your debt balance, or you disagree with the ATO’s decision to disclose your debt balance to credit reporting bureaus, contact us or the ATO immediately to discuss your situation.

 

What should I do if I receive an intent to disclose notice or meet the criteria mentioned above?

If you’re worried you won’t be able to pay on time, or you’ve already missed a due date, there are options available to support you.

If you are a small business, you also have access to Dispute Assist, a free service that helps unrepresented small businesses with the dispute process.

 

If you receive an intent to disclose notice , please contact us immediately. We are here to work with you to manage your tax obligations.