ARTICLE · 04 JULY 2024

Remission of ATO interest requests

Cathro & Partners

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In certain circumstances, the ATO may remit (or reduce) tax debt interest charges upon request.

AustraliaTax

Cathro & Partners

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With a steep rise in interest rates, a cost-of-living crisis, escalating tensions abroad, and having just experienced a pandemic, many small businesses have done it tough in recent times.

As a result, an escalating tax debt may be getting difficult to manage, despite your best efforts to get on top of it. In fact, it may feel like every payment you make just goes towards paying the interest, rather than your primary debt.

So, what can be done?

Background

The ATO applies two types of interest charges:

The ATO applies general interest charge (GIC) on unpaid tax debts, and
Shortfall interest charge (SIC) on shortfall amounts.

The ATO's reasoning for charging interest is to ensure that:

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