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Have you got an ATO debt that has been sitting there for five, ten or more years? Before you accept the balance showing today, understand where the debt came from. It may include the original assessment, later amendments, penalties, interest, credits and other adjustments. Ask how the number developed.
Sometimes you need to go further back and ask whether the original tax position was correct. Were deductions missed? Was income assessed correctly? Was a capital gain calculated properly? What records can still support what happened? In an older matter, that may mean reconstructing the history from tax returns, bank records, property documents, invoices and previous correspondence.
If penalties were imposed, look at them separately: why were they applied, what happened at the time, and what evidence supports the circumstances? Time limits also apply to challenging ATO decisions. In some circumstances, a person lodging an objection outside the usual period can request an extension of time.
ATO Fight Back can review the assessment history, calculations, penalties and available evidence, then assess what options may still be open. Do not look only at the debt today. Understand how you got there before deciding on the next step.
Edited from the automatic captions for clarity. Check the video and the linked ATO guidance for context.
Explore the issue in more detail
Read our Read the guide to old ATO tax debts for the records, review rights and next steps that matter to this topic. You can also see our ATO tax debt help.
