iscover Tax agents air frustrations about delays with new GIC remission forms
RegulationThe ATO's new system for lodging GIC remission requests through OSFA is causing delays in remission decisions in some cases, according to tax professionals.
Tax agents have expressed concern that the ATO is taking longer to respond to requests for general interest charge (GIC) remission following changes to the GIC remission process in January.
In January this year, the ATO introduced a new interim system for remission requests for GIC, shortfall interest charge (SIC) and failure to lodge (FTL) penalties. The interim system requires tax agents to lodge requests through the ATO's online services for agents (OFSA) instead of over the phone.
Remission requests are then reviewed by a dedicated team, which the ATO said would ensure greater consistency in decision making.
In a recent webcast hosted by the Tax Ombudsman, tax practitioners said in some cases they have been waiting more than 50 days for the ATO to respond to requests for remission following the introduction of the new system.
Tax professionals told the Tax Ombudsman that it was previously possible to do four or five remissions over the phone in one afternoon, but it was now a much longer process.
Tax agents said there was already a significant backlog of work sitting in OSFA, which they did not believe would improve until the ATO increased the resources dedicated to handling remissions.
Director of complex complaints at the Inspector-General of Taxation, Helen Fong, said the Tax Ombudsman acknowledged that delays in receiving responses to remission requests were a definite issue they would be closely monitoring.
Fong said the ATO was monitoring the queue for remission requests and the timeframes for receiving responses.
"Using these standardised forms and diverting remission requests that are over $2500 through to the centralised team takes the pressure off the phone teams, but it does obviously put more pressure onto the desk teams for that centralised unit," she said.
"It is expected that the ATO will readjust its workforce to cater for that shift between phone-based decision making and desk-based decision making."
Fong said the Tax Ombudsman would continue to liaise with the ATO regarding the implementation of changes it has made following the Tax Ombudsman's review into the remission of GIC.
"We try to keep the ATO on track in terms of how they implement the recommendations [of the review] and through that process we can have discussions with the ATO about what they should be considering or keeping an eye on," she said.
Tax Ombudsman Ruth Owen said that while the delays in remission decisions were frustrating for tax agents, she was confident that the use of the new form and the centralised team for GIC remissions would ensure greater consistency in decisions on GIC remission.
"We have a lot of work going into that [centralised] team. We need to make sure that the team has the right skills and has the right capacity."
Miranda Brownlee
Miranda Brownlee is the deputy editor of SMSF Adviser, which is the leading source of news, strategy and educational content for professionals working in the SMSF sector.
Since joining the team in 2014, Miranda has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest superannuation stories in Australia, and has reported extensively on technical strategy and legislative updates.
Miranda also has broad business and financial services reporting experience, having written for titles including Investor Daily, ifa and Accountants Daily.
