Routine debt collection practice under scrutiny.
A Four Corners and Fairfax investigation has thrown the
Australian Taxation Office's (ATO) current approach to a
routine debt collection practice under immense scrutiny.
The ATO has long held the power to recover its debt through
third parties of an entity with an outstanding tax debt. The
mechanism used to enforce this right is a garnishee notice.
According to Smart Company, a whistle-blower was reported
to say that staff at the ATO were told "to start issuing
standard garnishee notices on every case". The article goes on
to say that the ATO denied this position in a statement; outlining
that "it only issued 14,000 garnishee notices for small
businesses in the past financial year, accounting for 0.5% of
'collectable debt cases'."
