Payment plans

Getting started

The accounts you can view, make and adjust payment plans for include:

• Income tax
• Activity statement
• Director penalty
• Super guarantee employer
• Fringe benefits tax
• First Home Super Saver
• Trust beneficiary
• GST joint venture
• Administrative penalty – AEOI
• Administrative penalty – PAF
• Administrative penalty – SMSF
• ACNC penalty
• Civil penalty – scheme promotion
• Trust beneficiary non-disclosure
• Ultimate beneficiary non-disclosure
• Petroleum resource rent tax
• Mineral resource rent tax.

Help with paying has detailed information on how to make and manage payment plans, including when a payment plan may default. If you're new to payment plans, we recommend you read this information.

You can only make a payment plan if your client:

• has an existing debit amount under $200,000 (total balance or overdue amounts)
• has no payment plan for that debt
• hasn't defaulted on a payment plan for the relevant account more than twice in the past 2 years.

You can only adjust a payment plan if your client has an active payment plan with a total balance under $200,000 (total balance or overdue amounts).

You can't adjust a current payment plan if the payment method is direct debit via credit or debit card.

Make a payment plan

Watch

To make a payment plan:

• select a client
• select Accounts and payments, select Payment plans, then select Add to make a new plan (you can't add a payment plan if one already exists for that debt.)
• at the Make a payment plan screen
  • Select account – only the accounts for which you can make an online payment plan will be displayed
  • Select amount – a payment plan can be made for either the full account balance or the overdue amount. If the overdue amount of the account is selected, the remaining balance needs to be paid by the due date
  • Select payment method – direct debit via bank account is available
  • Select payment frequency – Lump sum, Weekly, Fortnightly or Monthly
  • Payment date – the date must be within 7 days of the payment plan being established (excluding weekends and public holidays) and must be on a business day
  • the system will populate the upfront payment (amount and percentage) and the instalment amount. You can adjust these fields to suit your client’s current situation. Changes that don't meet the parameters for online payment plans will receive an error message
  • select Calculate payment plan
   
• payment plan details are displayed for review. Adjustments can be made before proceeding
• select Reminder preferences (Tax agents only) if you or your client wants to be notified when a payment is due. Select SMS or email and enter the details of where the notification will go, then select Save
• select the Declaration then Submit
• you'll receive confirmation that your client’s payment plan has been successfully created
• select Print friendly version to print or save a copy of the schedule, payment method and payment reference numbers.

For most tax and super accounts, the payment plan will automatically finalise when the balance of an account is paid. For activity statement accounts, the payment plan may continue to display as active even if the balance is paid in full, unless one of the following occurs:

• we cancel the payment plan
• the final instalment date of the payment plan is reached
• a new debt arises due to an overdue liability or missed instalment. This'll update the status of the payment plan to 'arrears' or 'default'.

Your client's Tax account screen will also have a link to make a payment plan where applicable.

View a payment plan

To view the instalment schedule for existing payment plans:

• select a client
• select either
  • Accounts and payments then Payment plans
  • at the Client summary For action tab, select Payment plan next to the account
   
• the following information will display
  • Account
  • Amount
  • Payment method
  • Payment frequency
  • Plan total
  • Status.
   

You can also view the payment due dates and status of payment for previous instalments.

It can take up to 14 days for the payment status to update.

Adjust or cancel a payment plan

• select a client
• select Accounts and payments
• select Payment plans
• select either
  • Cancel payment plan
  • Modify instalment schedule (you cannot modify the instalment schedule if the payment method is direct debit via credit or debit card, only the card holder can do this).