Difficulty in paying your tax debt (individual clients)

What if you cannot pay your tax debt on time?

If you cannot pay your tax debt on time, contact us immediately on 13 11 42 to discuss your circumstances.

When you speak to us about payment of your outstanding tax debt or remission of general interest charge (GIC), we are committed to:

• understanding your situation and individual circumstances
• being fair and equitable in the application of the law, processes and policy
• considering your case on its merits and assisting you to move on
• assisting you where possible if you are attempting to engage with us and do the right thing.

In some circumstances, you may need to provide written details of your financial position which may include a statement of your assets and liabilities and details of your income and expenditure.

We also need to understand what steps you have taken to obtain funds to pay your tax debt, as well as what you have done to make sure you meet future tax debts on time.

You may be given extra time to pay, depending on your individual circumstances.

If we give you extra time to pay, you are required by law to pay the GIC. The GIC is tax deductible in the income year in which it is incurred. The law provides the Commissioner with the opportunity to remit all or part of the GIC in certain circumstances.

Further information about our remission policy is available in Practice Statement Law Administration PS LA 2011/12.

Help for small businesses experiencing short-term financial difficulties If you are a sole trader or operate a small business and are experiencing short-term financial difficulty we may be able to help. We offer help to viable businesses with an annual turnover of less than $2 million that are having trouble meeting their tax payment obligations due to challenging business conditions or unexpected events such as natural disasters. For more information, refer to Help for small businesses experiencing short-term financial difficulties.