Closing day for submissions: Friday 22 June 2018.

Garnishee notices are the most common form of firmer actions used by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to recover tax debt. Such written notices may be issued by the ATO to third parties, who are required to pay money, owed to the taxpayer, to the ATO to satisfy the taxpayer’s tax debt. Such third parties may include employers, banks, trade debtors and certain agents. Garnishee notices may require either a one-off payment or standard recurring payments for certain periods of time.

The Inspector-General of Taxation (IGT) will undertake a review to examine the allegations made by current and former ATO staff in the 9 April 2018 Four Corners program, as well as to explore the themes arising from related complaints made to his office in recent years. The review will draw on IGT complaints data, consider the ATO’s implementation of specific recommendations made in his 2015 Debt Review and independently assess the relevant ATO systems including interviewing current and former ATO staff in the debt recovery units across multiple locations. It will also seek to understand and assess the nature of any impact upon affected taxpayers, particularly small businesses.

For further information and details for submissions, please visit the Review website.

(Source: Inspector-General of Taxation)

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