Tax Return:: Objecting to a Decision Made By the ATO (Applying for an Objection)

Hello, this is your tax and super specialist, P&C Tax Professionals.

Have you received your notice of assessment but noticed you were taxed at the wrong tax rate? Or were you classified as a foreign resident for tax purposes when you shouldn’t have and as a result did you fail to receive your tax offsets? If your notice of assessment gets issued but you happen to disagree with a decision made by the ATO, you can object to an ATO decision by lodging an Objection Form to the ATO.

<Decisions you can object to and their time limits>

You are able to object to tax assessments and the majority of the other decisions that are made by the ATO, but keep in mind that there are certain time limits for lodging your objections.

The topics to which you can object to includes the following:

> Australian business numbers (ABNs)

> Cash flow boost

> Excise

> Fringe benefit tax (FBT)

> Fuel schemes

> Fuel tax credits

> Goods and services tax (GST)

> Income tax

> JobKeeper Payment

> JobMaker Hiring Credit

> Luxury car tax (LCT)

> Offshore Petroleum levy

> Penalties and interest

> Resource rent taxes (petroleum and minerals)

> Single Touch Payroll (STP)

> Superannuation

> Superannuation – reviewable decisions

> Wine equalisation tax (WET)

When it comes to the time limit for submitting your objections, it can vary anywhere from 60 days up to four years. The time will start counting from the date the ATO has delivered to you or your representative your assessment, notice, ruling, demand, decision or any other correspondence that is related to your objection topic. However, if you have missed the deadline and you are outside the time limit, you can still request for an extension of time simply by sending a written request along with your objection form.

<After lodging your objection>

When the ATO receives your objection form, they will conduct a thorough review of the facts and evidence that are provided along with your objection form which is then used to arrive at a decision.

During the process of the review, the ATO may either contact you or your representative (such as your registered tax agent) in order to:

> discuss about your objection

> request for more information that is required

> discuss the duration of how long it may take to resolve your objection.

Decision in 60 days

If the ATO still hasn’t given a response in regards to your objection within 60 days of your lodgement, you can send the ATO a written notice to make a decision. Afterwards, if the ATO does not make a decision within 60 days since the written notice was sent out, your objection would be considered disallowed. If this is the case, you can request for an external review to be conducted by a court or tribunal.

After the ATO arrives at a decision

Once the ATO has finally arrived at a decision regarding your objection, they will provide you with:

> a notice of amended assessment

> a notice of decision that contains the reasons behind the ATO’s decision

> information on how you can seek a review via tribunal or court if you happen to be dissatisfied with the ATO’s decision

> information on how to pay any outstanding amount of tax that is due

If the objection turns out to be in your favour, the ATO will apply the decision which includes amending any assessment. In this case, the ATO will pay any outstanding tax refund which they owe you, including any interest payments which you may be entitled to.

Therefore, if you ever need help with preparing and lodging your objection form to the ATO, please reach out to us through our official Facebook Page (P&C Tax Professionals – Australia) or simply send your enquiries to pnctax@naver.com.

Thank you and bye for now!