ATO call centres unable to meet demand as tax office urges Australians to check online services

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) said its call centres were unable to keep up with demand on Friday, as taxpayers and business owners alike flooded the system with last-minute end of financial year queries.

The 2022-2023 financial year ended June 30, leaving precious little time for taxpayers to spend their way into bonus deductions or make sure their business affairs were in order on Friday afternoon.

Taking to social media as the minuntes ticked down, the tax office urged callers to reconsider their request for assistance.

“We know you have better things to do than sit on the phone to us,” the ATO said.

“Currently our call centres aren’t able to meet demand.

“We apologise for this inconvenience, and thank you for your patience.”

The tax office subsequently reminded callers that many tax function are available through the ATO’s online “self-service” system.

It has shared a list of answers to the most common enquiries, in an attempt to stem the flow of calls to its customer service teams.

“Many queries we receive can be self-managed through our online services,” the tax office added.

“We encourage you to self-serve if you can.”

After creating a myGov account and linking it to the ATO’s online services, taxpayers can search for their Tax File Number (TFN) or Australian Business Number (ABN), manage addresses and bank account details, and track personal superannuation balances.

Sole traders can also lodge activity statements, handle Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) instalments, and print hard copies of lodged statements.

Of course, taxpayers can also use myTax to lodge and track their tax returns.

Crucially for thousands of small businesses with outstanding tax debts, the ATO also allows users to create payment plans online.

Those with outstanding payments of $100,000 or less can use the ATO’s online services to reconnect with the tax system.

The tax office also offers a payment plan calculator allowing taxpayers to estimate how those payment plans would look in practice.

Tax professionals with burning questions for the ATO that can only be answered via phone should also consider the list of Fast Key Codes listed on the tax office website.

While Australians inundated those call centres with last-minute questions, the ATO has also urged taxpayers to take their time when completing their 2023 tax return, lest they file it with costly errors.

“While you can lodge from 1 July, there is a much higher chance that your return will be missing important information if you lodge your return before late July,” ATO assistant commissioner Tim Loh said in a statement this week.

“If you forget to include everything, it will slow down the progress of your return, and you’ll likely end up with more work to do down the track.”