‘Tax officers have a difficult job’: ATO and union hit back at ‘ill-informed’ Four Corners report

THE federal government has launched an investigation into the ATO after an explosive Four Corners report.

THE federal government has launched an investigation into claims the Australian Taxation Office has unfairly left small business owners in the lurch.

The announcement comes after the ATO responded angrily to a Four Corners report alleging a culture of bullying and intimidation of taxpayers and small businesses, describing the coverage as “one-sided and ill-informed”.

A spokesman for Revenue Minister Kelly O’Dwyer told AAP she was deeply concerned about the allegations and had asked for a thorough investigation of all claims made in the report.

“The government will be responding once it has had an opportunity to consider that in detail,” the spokesman said.

On Monday night, the joint ABC-Fairfax investigation aired claims from former staffers that the ATO targeted those less likely to have the financial resources to challenge incorrect tax assessments.

“You would be looking at taxpayers who are less able to resist the might of the Tax Office,” former employee Ron Shamir told the program. “Taxpayers that are more vulnerable, and that often meant individuals and small businesses rather than larger businesses who had less legal resources.”

On Wednesday, Small Business Ombudsman Kate Carnell welcomed the investigation. “The asymmetry in power between this large and powerful organisation and the small business sector has left these particular small businesses, and individuals, in a devastating financial position,” Ms Carnell said in a statement.

“When the ATO does make a mistake or is behaving particularly heavy handed, it can take a long time to fix and the financial impacts are huge. It doesn’t take long for a small business to go broke.

“The reference to the ATO as judge and executioner rings true when you understand there is no independent review available to small businesses — only big business. Then there’s the added distress of the ATO being able to take money straight out of your business bank account, without your agreement.”

In a statement on Tuesday, the ATO said it “strongly disagrees with the allegations and views” put forward by the ABC and Fairfax in recent coverage.

“The media have taken a handful of isolated cases, presented only one side of the story, and then extrapolated these to suggest systemic issues with our administration of the tax and super systems,” the ATO said.

“It is our view the coverage includes unbalanced commentary and opportunistic journalism, as well as ill-informed analysis of the facts. The truth is less sensational.

“Several of the cases mentioned are more than five years old, and have already been subject to external review, including through the Inspector-General of Taxation.”

The ATO said the work it had done over the last five years in “reinventing the client experience” meant many of the cases were “not representative of today’s practices”, and that “where we have made mistakes we will apologise and seek to rectify the position and restore the relationship with the taxpayer”.

“The majority of our clients have a seamless positive engagement with us,” it said. “Of the almost 150 million interactions and transactions with have with taxpayers each year, almost all progress smoothly and well. Less than 0.1 per cent of all interactions result in a complaint or an objection.”

It said there was “absolutely no evidence” to the claim that the ATO got it wrong in roughly 5 per cent of cases.

“In addition, no review, scrutineer or credible source has ever found a pattern of abuse towards small business owners by the ATO,” it said.

“We are concerned this coverage serves only to create tension and worry for small businesses where it did not previously exist, and perhaps even stop people from coming to us to get things sorted. That’s the worst outcome for everyone.”

Meanwhile, the Australian Services Union has called for an apology for the “lies about tax officers”. “Tax officers have a difficult job,” ASU tax branch secretary Jeff Lapidos said in a note to members.

“Australia needs us to work with taxpayers and their representatives to help them meet their tax obligations. Our experience is that our tax officers do their best to help you, even if you are in a difficult situation and can’t pay your tax bill.

“We do our best to be understanding and respectful, even if you got your tax return wrong, for whatever reason. We know that it can be difficult to pay your tax debts.

“Our people in debt collection hear stories every day about the difficulty people have in paying their tax debts. These conversations can be very difficult for our people. And yes, some taxpayers become desperate and threaten self-harm or even suicide because they can’t work out how they can pay their bills.

“We do the best we can to advise them of the options available to them and assist them given their individual circumstances.”

Mr Lapidos said the ABC and Fairfax had “sought to sensationalise from a few self-serving cases and commentators”. “It is not our role to answer the case studies that ABC and Fairfax raise,” he said.

“The real difficulty is that the Tax Commissioner can’t either because the secrecy provisions of the Tax Administration Act outlaw public commenting on the validity of these claims. This ‘investigation’ into the ATO was poorly researched and badly thought out. It has let Australia down.”

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said Labor would look into the issues raised by the program. “The whistleblowers have drawn the nation’s attention to something that a lot of businesses and people have been concerned about,” Mr Shorten told the ABC. “It looks like people’s genuine concerns have some basis in fact.”

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