Millions of Australians may have to wait months before they can collect their $1,080 tax bonus.
Public sector union CPSU said that job cuts at the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) over the past few years was partly to blame for the slow process.
More than 6,500 people have been dropped leading to an understaffed government agency, the union claimed.
CPSU deputy national president Brooke Muscat-Bentley said the added artificial staffing cap placed on the ATO is failing taxpayers.
Millions of Australians may have to wait months before they can collect their $1080 tax bonus (stock image)

Public sector union CPSU said that job cuts at the Australian Taxation Office over the past few years was partly to blame for the slow process (stock image)
‘A good government would lift the cap and hire more skilled staff in secure jobs, ensuring that calls get answered promptly and creating employment,’ Ms Muscat-Bentley said.
She noted the ATO was also receiving massive amounts of calls from taxpayers asking how much relief they can expect.
‘Members are telling us the calls they are able to answer start with complaints about wait times and people imploring for more staff to be hired,’ CSPU deputy national president Brooke Muscat-Bentley said.
The sudden surge comes after the federal parliament passed personal income tax cut laws this week.
Millions of Australians are expected to receive anywhere between $255 and $1,215 in tax cuts.
The ATO has reportedly been taking 90,000 calls a day and had to reject 50,000 calls since July 1.
‘We have seen a large number of people getting excited about tax time, and our call centre is managing a large number of calls about Single Touch Payroll, myTax or linking our online services to myGov,’ an ATO spokesperson told ABC.
2018-19 INCOME | TAX CUT |
---|---|
$25,000 | $255 |
$40,000 | $580 |
$60,000 | $1080 |
$90,000 | $1215 |
$120,000 | $315 |
Source: ABC News |
The surge in inquiries comes at a busy time for the tax office which is implementing a new system for claiming returns and the introduction of the one-touch payroll system for employers.
The one-touch system means workers in a business with more than 20 employees have to get their own payment summary from the myGov website.
Many people are struggling to work out the system and are calling up for help.
The ATO has hired casual workers to take calls and is offering overtime to full-time employees as the office battles the increase in activity.
Some public servants have reportedly been temporarily re-tasked from processing returns to deal with the rush on the phones.

Millions of Australians are expected to receive anywhere between $255 and $1,215 in tax cuts (pictured, stock image of a person filling out a tax return form)

The sudden surge comes after the federal parliament passed personal income tax cut laws this week (pictured, a visual representation of the tax return Australians can expect based on their salary bracket)
The ATO has also had to block 50,000 calls to prevent callers being placed on hold for long periods of time, the Guardian reported.
The Australian Service Union’s Jeff Lapidos pleaded for patience.
‘We ask callers to the ATO to be patient and if possible to delay calling until ATO systems get a chance to catch up,’ he said.
The tax cuts must now wait for the formality of Royal Assent from the Queen’s representative, Governor-General David Hurley, before going live, a process which usually takes between 7 and 10 working days.
The modest tax cuts vary as to a person’s income in the 2018-19 tax year and will be available almost immediately, as soon as the ATO updates its processing systems.
The tax cut should appear automatically in peoples’ bank accounts as part of their refund after they lodge their 2018-19 tax return.
The ATO has said it will try to process online tax returns within two weeks, but asked taxpayers to wait until August to lodge their returns, as most employers have until July 31 to finalise their employee’s income statements.
Assistant commissioner Karen Foat said if the return was lodged before the income statement was tax ready, the employer may make changes forcing you to lodge an amendment.
‘We strongly encourage taxpayers to wait a few weeks before lodging their tax return,’ she told the ABC.

The tax cut should appear automatically in peoples’ bank accounts as part of their refund after they lodge their 2018-19 tax return