In late 2019, the Treasury Laws Amendment (2019 Tax Integrity and Other Measures No.1) Bill 2019 was passed. The bill contains a measure that gives the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) the power to report business tax debts of more than $100,000 which are at least 90 days overdue to credit reporting agencies.

The law allows tax debts to be treated alongside other debts, encouraging business to pay their debts in a timely manner and giving credit providers more information to assess the credit rating of a business.

Tax debts include income tax debts, activity statement debts, superannuation debts, fringe benefit tax debts, and penalties and interest charged.

It has only been recently, 18 months after the law was passed that the ATO has begun utilising these new powers. Small businesses have begun receiving notices from the ATO warning they will disclose their tax debts to credit reporting agencies if they do not cooperate to manage the debt.

If you receive an intent to disclose notice from the ATO we recommend not to ignore it.

Please contact us immediately to discuss your options, which may include putting into place a payment plan with the ATO.