Delays the main bug-bear for ATO
The time it takes to receive a tax refund remains the big issue confronting people interacting with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), according to survey data published in the latest ATO annual report.
The ATO annual report, released this week, revealed that in 2006-07, it received 11,642 complaints and items of feedback — an 8.8 per cent increase over the previous 12-month period.
It cited the main reasons for complaints in the past financial year as being:
> delays in issuing refunds, particularly income tax refunds (22.5 per cent of
complaints);
> taxpayers not receiving a reply to their enquiry or a requested booklet, or concern that they may not have been given correct or complete information (17.2 per cent of complaints);
> access to ATO services (16.5 per cent of complaints), particularly call centres, with calls being cut off and the time taken before a call was answered being the main complaint issues. The processing delays mentioned above added to the number of such complaints;
> taxpayer reporting obligations, with the main issues being delays in processing amendments and activity statements not being received (10.2 per cent of complaints). The significant delays experienced were due to unplanned system issues; and
> registration issues, for instance, difficulties in changing name, address and banking details (8.2 per cent of complaints).
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
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