ATO defends delays

Following a number of complaints about tax return delays resulting from its administrative changes, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has sought to reassure taxpayers there are no significant technical errors in its system, but that it is “still smoothing out some operations.”

Accountants have recently expressed anger over significant delays flowing from the ATO’s switch to a new IT system, with some threatening to seek compensation for damage to their reputation.

However, the ATO’s latest progress report indicates a vast majority of taxpayers haven’t had major delays and that there are several other reasons why tax returns are not received within usual service standards, such as forgetting to include date of birth or supplying incorrect bank account details.

“Despite delays for some people, of returns finalised we have still finalised 77 per cent within 14 days and 99 per cent within 30 days.”

The progress report also noted that the ATO “issued more than $10.7 billion in refunds since tax time started on 1 July 2010.”

The taxation office added tax returns are sometimes complicated and require a large amount of manual checking by tax officers.