Review into the Tax Office’s Small Business Debt Collection Practices
Report to the Minister for Revenue and the Assistant Treasurer
Inspector-General of Taxation
12 April 2005
© Commonwealth of Australia 2005
ISBN 0 642 74292 8
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12 April 2005
The Hon Mal Brough MP
Minister for Revenue and Assistant Treasurer
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Dear Minister
I am pleased to present to you my report of the Review into the Tax Office’s Small Business Debt Collection Practices. The report has been prepared under section 10 of the Inspector-General of Taxation Act 2003 (‘the Act’).
In accordance with the requirements of section 25 of the Act, I have provided the Commissioner of Taxation with the opportunity to respond to the report’s findings and recommendations. His reply and associated comments on individual recommendations have been incorporated into the report. It will be noted that the Commissioner has agreed with all of my recommendations.
I offer my thanks for the co-operative approach of the Tax Office staff and the support and contribution of many professional bodies, business groups, individuals and government bodies. The willingness of many to provide their time in preparing submissions and discussing issues with me and my staff is greatly appreciated.
Yours sincerely
David R Vos AM
Inspector-General of Taxation
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 This is the report on the review conduced by the Inspector-General of Taxation (Inspector-General) of the Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO or Tax Office) small business debt collection policies and practices, pursuant to section 10 of the Inspector-General of Taxation Act 2003 (IGT Act).
1.2 The review was announced on 21 April 2004. Its terms of reference are reproduced at Appendix 1 to this report. Details of how the review was conducted are given in Appendix 2.
1.3 The review was conducted pursuant to subsection 8(1) of the IGT Act, being a review conducted on the initiative of the Inspector-General. The decision to undertake the review was prompted by concerns raised by industry and tax practitioners and media reports.
1.4 Information gathered as part of this review has been published in the accompanying document, Review into the Tax Office’s Small Business Debt Collection Practices — Summary of submissions and evidence.
1.5 During the course of the Inspector-General’s review, the Tax Office made or proposed changes to its debt collection policies and practices. These changes made or proposed by the Tax Office are noted in this report wherever relevant.
1.6 Unless otherwise noted, all statistics used in this report were provided by the Tax Office.
Acknowledgements
1.7 Sincere thanks are extended to those organisations representing small businesses, accountants, tax practitioners, insolvency practitioners and lawyers; and, small businesses, accountants, tax practitioners, insolvency practitioners, lawyers and commercial debt recovery agents who participated in meetings and workshops. Those who prepared written submissions for this review made a particularly important contribution.
1.8 The Inspector-General of Taxation acknowledges with thanks the assistance of the Taxation Ombudsman and his Special Tax Adviser, the Official Trustee of Bankruptcy and staff of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
1.9 The Inspector-General of Taxation acknowledges the continued cooperation of the Commissioner of Taxation and his staff.
Next: Chapter 2: Inspector-General’s summary and recommendations
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