What action will the Tax Office take if my client doesn’t pay by the due date?
We encourage taxpayers to contact us early if they are unable to pay their tax by the due date. If they fail to do this, we will intervene early – in some cases, within one to two weeks of their payment falling overdue. This applies even for small debts, down to as little as $100 in the case of superannuation guarantee charge debts. We use a range of contact methods, including letters, telephone and short message system (SMS). In some cases, we will refer the debt to one of our external collection agencies to collect on our behalf. Using these various methods of contact allows us to reach and engage with more taxpayers. A practical consequence of our approach is the strong likelihood that either our own staff or one of the external collection agencies will contact your client, or you, if they have a tax debt. This is particularly so in the second half of the financial year, when we ramp up our collection activities to meet a number of key lodgment and payment dates.
