Australia owes the tax office $50 billion. 22,000 people are particularly bad offenders
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has issued a warning to the 22,000 people who owe it a collective $11 billion as it chases down billions more in unpaid tax.
In a speech to the Tax Institute today, ATO commissioner Rob Heferen said his organisation is currently owed some $50 billion in collectible debt.
"This debt is not disputed, most of it has been self-reported, and a significant portion is made up of amounts that have been withheld from employees' wages, or collected from consumers as GST – but not passed on to government," he said.
READ MORE: Former AFL coach Mick Malthouse assaulted while fighting off home invaders
Australians owe the tax office a collective $50 billion, with 22,000 people particularly bad offenders. Getty
"While the majority of tax is paid on time – about 90 per cent – in dollar terms, there is a significant amount that isn't."
Heferen said collecting the $50 billion is a major focus for the ATO, and revealed there are 22,000 Australians in particular who can expect to hear from the tax office soon.
While they comprise just 1 per cent of the taxpayers who are in debt to the ATO, they owe a collective $11 billion – around 20 per cent of all outstanding funds owed to the ATO, and about $500,000 each.
"It's a significant priority for us," Heferen said.
READ MORE: Major bank predicts no interest rate cut from RBA this month
Rob Heferen has said chasing down the ATO's collectible debt book was a priority for the tax office. Alex Ellinghausen
"We're using every tool available to recover what's owed from those 22,000 – using statutory demands for payment, wind-up processes, director penalty notices, garnishee notices, and departure prohibition orders."
The $50 billion in outstanding debt is almost enough to cover Australia's entire defence budget for a year, while the $11 billion is more than the federal government put towards its key election policies of boosting bulk billing under Medicare and extending energy bill rebates for six months combined.
Earlier in his speech, Heferen gave an update on tax returns for the 2024-25 financial year.
With about two months to go until the October 31 deadline, about a quarter of taxpayers had lodged their returns, and had been given a significant average refund.
"As of 24 August, we've had over 6.1 million tax returns lodged and have issued over 4.5 million refunds, totalling $12 billion – with an average refund of $2639," he said.
DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
Share a tip-off, video or photo with us
