Back in April, Four Corners aired a joint investigation with Fairfax on the Australian Tax Office’s (ATO) alleged bullying of small businesses.
The segment featured explosive allegations by former employee turned whistle blower, Richard Boyle, and others who claim the ATO is driven by revenue collection.
Following the report, both the Turnbull Government and the Labor Opposition committed to undertaking a parliamentary investigation into the conduct of the ATO, while Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson and independent senator David Leyonhjelm both expressed concern about the allegations raised by the investigation.
Self-Employed Australia also claimed that the ATO was “in denial” about the problems in the organisation, following its media statement strongly rebuking the Four Corners report.
With this background in mind, shadow treasurer Chris Bowen over the weekend promised a “massive” overhaul of the ATO should Labor win government. From Adele Ferguson:
The decision to create a separate and dedicated appeals group led by a new, second ATO commissioner not only takes some of the sting out of the ATO’s extraordinary powers but brings it into line with comparable international tax collection agencies such as its United States counterpart…
The ATO watchdog, the Inspector General of Taxation Ali Noroozi, has been calling for reform for years, including creating a separate independent appeals division to hear tax disputes in an efficient, transparent and affordable way.
Others have also lobbied hard for change, including small business advocate Ken Phillips…
The problem for small business is many don’t have the funds to fight, even when they are innocent…
In contrast, large business taxpayers with more than $250 million can request an “independent review” before the tax office has finalised the audit position…
Opting to separate the appeals area in the ATO is a great start. But more needs to be done.
There needs to be a board set up to oversee the ATO, a separate compensation scheme and many other reforms.
Well done Labor for providing a sensible and pragmatic solution to this problem.
