O’Dwyer seeks answers from ATO
The Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, Kelly O’Dwyer, has sought answers from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) regarding the accusations levelled at it by small businesses on ABC’s Four Corners on Monday.
Interviewees on the show accused the Office of being “a mongrel bunch of bastards” who use their extensive powers to target small business owners.
"They chase low-hanging fruit, people who are being honest and upright, and they whack them with a huge bill and then chase them,” one small business lobbyist claimed.
Another business operator said that "there's an agenda that's going on in there, and the Australian public know nothing about it”.
Money Management can confirm that O’Dwyer has asked for an explanation from the ATO regarding these and other statements made on the program.
The ATO deputy commissioner – small business, Deborah Jenkins, yesterday sought to explain the Office’s actions, saying that the program “focus[ed] heavily on a very small number of atypical cases and extrapolate these across the entire system”.
AUTHOR
Hannah Wootton
Recommended for you
The FSCP has announced its latest verdict, suspending an adviser’s registration for failing to comply with his obligations when providing advice to three clients.
Having sold Madison to Infocus earlier this year, Clime has now set up a new financial advice licensee with eight advisers.
With licensees such as Insignia looking to AI for advice efficiencies, they are being urged to write clear AI policies as soon as possible to prevent a “Wild West” of providers being used by their practices.
Iress has revealed the number of clients per adviser that top advice firms serve, as well as how many client meetings they conduct each week.
