How we process your objection
When we process your tax return or an amendment to it, we usually simply process the information you provide. This is not the case with an objection. For objections, we review the facts and evidence you provide and come to a decision.
Within 14 days of receiving your objection, we:
- review your objection and, if necessary, contact you or your representative to discuss it
- request further information, if required, to allow us to make a decision
- advise you if your objection will take longer than usual to decide (particularly where the objection raises complex matters) and negotiate a new due date with you for us to make the objection decision.
You can help ensure that any delays are minimised by responding promptly to any requests from us.
From the day we receive all the necessary information, it normally takes 56 days (8 weeks) to provide you with our decision.
If we decide the objection in your favour, in full or in part, we amend our original decision. If we owe you money, we will pay you, including any interest you are entitled to.
Once we have made a decision on your objection we send you:
- a notice of decision that includes the reasons for our decision
- information on how to seek a review through a tribunal or court if you are dissatisfied with our decision
- information on how to pay any outstanding amount of tax.
If we have not dealt with your objection within 60 days of you lodging it, you can give us written notice to make a decision. If we don't make a decision within 60 days of this notice, your objection is deemed to be disallowed, which allows you to seek an external review by a court or tribunal. If we have requested additional information the 60-day period starts from when you supply the information to us.
Private ruling objections
When considering an objection against a private ruling, we may take additional information into account that we did not consider when making the original ruling. We will tell you what the information is, and give you an opportunity to respond before we make a decision.
If the new information makes a material difference to the facts we based the original ruling on, we may ask you to apply for a new private ruling. If this occurs, your objection is taken not to have been made, and we do not consider it any further.
Further action
If you are dissatisfied with our decision on your objection you can apply for an independent, external review. We explain your options when we advise you of our decision on your objection.
The law specifically gives you the right to go to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) or the Federal Court for a review of some of our actions or decisions. In most cases you need to have lodged an objection with us first. There are also other external avenues you could use in seeking to have a review of our decision.
Sections within Dispute (object to) an ATO decision
Last Modified: Monday, 20 May 2013