Swamped ATO is forced to reject 50,000 callers and bring in a fleet of new workers to deal with people ringing up about the new tax break
- Tax office flooded with 90,000 calls a day as taxpayers rush for their refund
- More callers are confused about how to get their group certificate from myGov
- ATO has had to block 50,000 calls since July 1 to prevent long waits on hold
- Casuals have been put on the phones, full-time staff on overtime to cope
- ATO asks people not to lodge returns until August so employers can finalise tax
The Australian Tax Office has been swamped with more than 90,000 calls a day as taxpayers rush for the $1,080 refund boost promised in the tax cut laws.
Millions of Australians are expected to receive between $255 and $1,215 in tax cuts after the Coalition passed promised legislation through the Senate on Thursday.
The ATO has reportedly had to reject 50,000 calls since July 1 after a surge of interest.
The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has been swamped with more than 90,000 calls a day and has had to block 50,000 calls since July 1 as taxpayers rush for their $1080 refund boost
Senior officials planned for a 28 per cent increase in call volumes but said they were overwhelmed by an unprecedented number of inquiries, The Guardian reported.
An ATO spokesperson told the ABC that the tax office received more than 90,000 calls on Thursday.
‘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,’ the spokesperson said.
‘For example, we received over 90,000 calls yesterday to our call centres.
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.
| 2018-19 INCOME | TAX CUT |
|---|---|
| $25,000 | $255 |
| $40,000 | $580 |
| $60,000 | $1080 |
| $90,000 | $1215 |
| $120,000 | $315 |
| Source: ABC News | |
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.
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 told The Guardian.
The lure of tax cut money has people calling up the tax office in their tens of thousands
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.