‘Coming home with blood and tears’: Small business owner lashes out at ATO, government over credit card decision

A restaurant owner says small businesses in Australia have reached breaking point, and has called out the Australian Taxation Office’s move to ban credit card payments as the latest punishment.

The ATO is standing firm on a decision to refuse credit card payments for tax bills from December 1, despite a meeting with 20 different business groups on Wednesday.

A Sydney small business owner now says the perceived lack of support from the government and other organisations could lead to entrepreneurs exiting Australia.

In an impassioned plea on Today, Nahji Chu – owner of Lady Chu, a chain of inner Sydney restaurants – said small businesses did not have any room to absorb more cost increases.

“We’re dodging bullets the whole time, and all of the sudden, you can’t pay your ATO bill with your credit card,” she said. “For a small business, that’s cash flow, it’s cash flow, and it means breathing space each month.

Chu said businesses could save up to $10,000 using a credit card to pay a tax bill.

“If revenue’s coming in and you don’t have the credit card facility, then of course you’ve got to increase your prices, you can’t keep absorbing everything,” she said.

“You’ve already got shock absorbers that are completely blunt from what everything the government’s done, you’re down to your skin. You’re getting out of bed and coming home with blood and tears.”

Read more

‘It’s getting impossible’: Surcharge ban leaves small businesses scrambling to cover card fees

She said it was “hypocrisy” for the government to celebrate the removal of credit and debit card surcharges as a win for consumers while the ATO stood firm on its ban.

“What’s the incentive for being a good citizen? It’s just un-Australian, literally, it’s ridiculously just so un-Australian,” she said.

“I’m getting out of bed, working really hard, I’ve assimilated, I’ve done everything Australia’s asked me to do, I’ve said thank you, I’ve worked hard, I’m not on the dole. What are they trying to do? Get me onto the dole?

“It’s called communism. It feels like it, they’re just not calling it what it is.”

She warned there could be a “brain drain” from Australia as entrepreneurs exit due to rising costs and difficulties in doing business, and lobbying groups have called on the government to step in and mediate between small businesses and the ATO.

“It’s time for the political leaders to step in,” Andrew McKellar from the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry told Today.

“I hope someone is listening… this is the cry from the real world, you can see what small businesses are struggling.

“With four interest rate increases this year, rising energy costs, having to pay the wages, doing all of that red tape and compliance, all we’re asking for is somebody in government to stand up, and recognise it’s a complete double standard.”

The federal government has suffered from mixed messaging in light of Wednesday’s meeting between the ATO and business groups, which the latter claimed was a “waste of time” due to the ATO refusing to budge.

Speaking to Today, Housing Minister Clare O’Neil admitted she was “concerned” by the latest decision made by the ATO.

“Small businesses in this country are really struggling to manage their cash flow… using a credit card to pay a tax bill is a way a lot of people are managing that issue,” she said.

Read more

Is your suburb on the list? The top 10 Australian councils with mega data centre plans

“We really want the ATO to go back and talk to business about what they’ve decided to do here, and think about how they can find a solution that works for everyone.”

However, Andrew Charlton, a Labor MP in Sydney, said the government backed the ATO’s decision.

“The ATO has made that decision because of the principle of consistency between the private sector and the public sector,” Charlton told ABC Radio.

“And if we’re saying that surcharges can’t exist in the private sector, then surcharges shouldn’t exist in the public sector.”