The following information details what happens after you make a claim.
Claim decision process
We aim to send you written acknowledgement of your compensation claim within seven business days of receiving it. Where possible we will give you the name and contact details of the person managing your claim.
For straightforward claims, once you give us all the necessary information to support your claim, we aim to give you our decision within 56 days.
For more complex claims, we aim to give you our preliminary view within 56 days. You can then comment on our view.
We may take longer to investigate and consider some claims with complicated facts or that extend over long periods of time. In these cases, we will contact you about an extended date for our decision.
If you did not give us all the information to make a decision, we will contact you to discuss what information you may be able to provide.
Any other dispute resolution processes you are involved in need to be resolved before we will consider your claim. This includes:
- court or tribunal action
- an active complaint with the Inspector-General of Taxation.
Receiving payment
If your claim is successful, we will transfer the payment electronically into your nominated bank account.
If you're unsure whether the payment is taxable, you can contact us or a registered tax professional.
Reviewing our decision
We offer internal review if you can provide new and relevant information or contentions to support your claim. Information about internal review is on your compensation decision letter.
Inspector-General of Taxation
The Inspector-General of Taxation can investigate most complaints related to tax administration. This includes the handling of compensation claims. The Inspector-General has no power to overturn or vary our decision but may make recommendations to us about how we handled the claim.
You can contact them via the Inspector-General of TaxationExternal Link website or by phone on 1300 448 829.
External review
You can request that your decision is reviewed by our external review panel. The panel consists of independent reviewers that are highly respected members of the legal community. If your decision is reviewed, the panel will provide a recommendation on the outcome of your decision to us. This service is free of charge to you.
We may also suggest that a matter is externally reviewed in appropriate cases without a request being made.
Cases suitable for external review can involve:
- complex factual issues
- long-standing or historical disputes, or
- disputes about claims of significant amounts.
Once the request is made, we will advise if your decision will be referred for external review as soon as possible.
If you would like your decision to be considered for external review, contact us at compensation.application@ato.gov.au or phone 1800 005 172.
See also
Find out about