Payment Arrangements with the ATO

1. You may be considering a payment arrangement if you can’t afford to pay your tax liability all at once or need financial flexability. This may be the case if you are an individual or business owner. There is no limit to the type of entity that may apply for a payment arrangement with the ATO. If you can’t afford to pay your tax liability at all, please review our “Review of Tax Liability” page, or our “Personal Bankruptcy” page to find further information specific to these circumstances.
   
   
2. The starting point for the ATO is that all tax liability must be paid by taxpayers as and when it falls due.
   
   
3. However, in certain circumstances, the ATO may, but is not required to, negotiate and enter into payment arrangement with taxpayers. In this case, a payment arrangement would allow a taxpayer to pay off their tax liability over a period of time.
   
   
4. In our experience, the ATO considers a number of factors when deciding whether to allow a taxpayer to negotiate the entering of a payment arrangement plan. These include, but are not limited to: a taxpayer’s compliance history, the nature of the tax liability itself, whether the taxpayer has failed to comply with a payment arrangement in the past, the time in-which the taxpayer is seeking to pay their tax liability, the taxpayer’s financial and personal circumstances, and whether the taxpayer is likely to incur further tax liability within the payment arrangement timeframe.
   
   
5. There is no cost to apply to the ATO for a payment arrangement and this can be done by telephone. Note – sometimes the ATO will want additional information or documentation from you to support your request for a payment arrangement. 
   
   
6. If you are considering applying for a payment arrangement with the ATO, you should also consider whether you would be eligable to, at the same time, have the ATO remit any penalties, general interest charges and/or shortfall interest charges which have accumilated on your tax liability.
   
   
7. We specalise in dealings with the ATO and are able to provide you with a package deal to review your tax and personal circumstances, advise you on the best course of action to pay off your tax liability and potentially have penalties and interest remitted. This includes us negotiating a payment arrangement on your behalf with the ATO and if appropriate, the remission of penalties and interest.
   
   
8. If you would like our assistance, please contact us by using the link further below or above.
   
   
9. Otherwise, if you would like to keep reading, we provide some general information on the remission of penalties and interest next. Please click the button below to keep reading.