)
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is clipping the wings of tax dodgers, clamping down on overseas travel for Australians who have outstanding tax liabilities in the latest enforcement effort by the authority to help recover about $50 billion in debts it is owed.
Since July last year, the ATO has issued 21 departure prohibition orders (DPOs) as part of a broader shift towards strengthening payment performance and debt collection activities. This is more than the total number of DPOs issued in FY25.
A DPO allows the ATO to prevent certain people with tax liabilities from leaving Australia without paying their outstanding tax.
“Taxpayers with significant debts to the ATO that think they can skip the country without paying what is owed to the community should think again,” says ATO Assistant Commissioner Anita Challen.
“We think most Australians would expect businesses to pay their employees’ superannuation before they plan an overseas holiday.
“The consequences of being issued a DPO are serious and confronting. A taxpayer issued a DPO was recently pulled aside and prevented from boarding an international flight out of Australia in the early hours of the morning.”
The DPO was imposed on the taxpayer because of what the ATO determined was the deliberate non-payment of a significant debt.
The ATO warns that taxpayers who have accumulated significant tax debts and have the means to pay them, and those who take “deliberate steps” to avoid paying, could have their overseas travel plans disrupted by this new enforcement tactic.
However, the ATO says its preference is always to support taxpayers willing to comply to pay.
The ATO points out that it is acting in the best interests of the community by issuing a DPO to a taxpayer seeking to flee the jurisdiction or who is spending money on overseas trips in preference to meeting their tax or superannuation obligations.
“The ATO strongly encourages taxpayers who cannot meet their obligations on time, to engage with us or speak with their registered tax professionals early. Putting your head in the sand is not an option,” says Challen.
“Not paying tax affects everyone, and it is common for businesses who aren’t paying their tax to owe money to more than one creditor and, if this not addressed, they can put other small businesses and their employees at risk.”
The ATO says the measure is that latest in its bid to reduce its $50 billion collectable debt book, with the action particularly targeting unpaid employee superannuation and taxes withheld from employees’ wages or collected from customers as GST, but not passed on to the government.
)
