July. Canberra knew back then. The tax office wanted to ditch credit cards.
Small businesses? They found out on 30 September. Two months’ notice, give or take.
Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino owned up to the timeline on the ABC’s Insiders on Sunday. And it’s not a good look.
Missed it? Here’s the gist
The ATO credit card ban was meant to kick in on 1 December. Business groups went off. Days later, Canberra caved. New date? Mid-2027. Taxpayers pick up the card fees till then.
Why did the ATO want out? Money. The card fees cost it roughly $200 million a year. With the surcharge ban starting on 1 October, it couldn’t pass that cost on anymore.
So who knew what?
July, Mulino says. That’s when word came through. The ATO’s preference? Stop taking cards.
And the government’s response? Go back to the card companies. Haggle some more. Give people a transition period.
Two months, it turned out, wasn’t anywhere near enough. Feedback rolled in. So the government stepped in.
Hands-off, then? No, he says. Though he did admit one thing. They “didn’t get into all of the details”.
Keep taking cards forever? That’d hit the budget hard, he said.
The twist
Get this. The ATO never wanted to drop cards.
Tax Commissioner Rob Heferen says the office “would have preferred to continue accepting credit cards”. The card companies just wouldn’t offer a low enough rate.
“Three months to fix this”
Tim Wilson, the Shadow Treasurer, pounced. The government “had three months to fix this”, he said. Instead, he says, it sat on its hands until the backlash got loud.
And blaming the ATO? Bit rich, he reckons, when you’re the one footing the bill for the delay.
Andrew McKellar, from the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was blunter still. The process was “completely deficient”, he said. It “took small business for granted”.
Plenty of small business owners also smell a double standard. They’ve had to wear the cost of the surcharge ban themselves. The ATO got a bailout.
Who was running the show?
The saga has stirred up talk about the top job, too.
A text message from McKellar. That’s what got the PM involved, Albanese says. Jim Chalmers insists he wasn’t “rolled”, and says he and the PM talked it through the previous Wednesday.
Wilson called the whole thing a “psychodrama”. Industry Minister Tim Ayres went the other way, calling Albanese “a remarkably collegial prime minister”.
Paying by card? Read this
Nothing’s changed for you. Cards are still accepted at the ATO until mid-2027.
After that, though? Don’t count on it. Ayres says there’s no prospect of a permanent waiver. The cost is big, he said, but the delay was the “right call”.
Use a card to spread out your tax bill? Time for a plan B. Debit card, BPAY, a payment plan. Ring your accountant. Mid-2027 will come around quicker than you think.
Where to from here
ACCI wants a permanent fix, and reckons lower card fees would sort a lot of it out. Who pays the bill long term is still up in the air.
For now, it’s a delay. Not a solution.