Shadow treasurer Tim Wilson calls on Labor to override tax office on credit card payment ban

The Opposition is now demanding that Labor overturn the tax office’s ban on credit card payments which the Federal Government says it’s powerless to do.

Shadow treasurer Tim Wilson has called on Treasurer Jim Chalmers to override the Australian Taxation Office’s upcoming ban coming into effect on December 1.

“Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, needs to front up like a shop owner when times are tough, listen to small business and overturn his ATO and their assault on small business cash flow and credit card payment ban,” Mr Wilson said.

Like the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Opposition is arguing an inability of businesses to be able to pay a tax liability by credit card would leave them with cashflow problems after they had filed a business activity statement.

“Many small businesses put their BAS or tax bill on a card to manage cash flow and make payroll,” Mr Wilson said on Friday.

“Now, just before Christmas, they’re being told to find tens of thousands of dollars at a moment’s notice.

“Cashflow is king, and this government keeps crunching it, from payday super to the surcharge ban and now this.

“Jim Chalmers needs to front up, show some leadership and overturn the ATO’s credit card ban.”

But Foreign Minister Penny Wong argued the Federal Government couldn’t interfere with the independence of the tax office.

“They are independent. Governments can’t direct the tax office to implement tax in a certain way,” she told Nine’s Today show on Friday.

“What I’d like to see is this resolved between the ATO and small business representatives.

“That’s the negotiation, that’s the engagement, the consultation that we want to see.”

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s chief executive Andrew McKellar on Friday stepped up its call for the Federal Government to override the ATO.

“This credit card ban is hurting small businesses. If the Australian Taxation Office can’t find its way out of the maze it has created, then it’s time for political leadership to step in and fix this,” he said.

“This policy is hypocritical and entrenches a double standard. Small business is being asked to cop the surcharge ban while the ATO refuses to do the same.

“We are calling on government to provide a clear solution. We need a pathway forward that gives small business a break; they need some breathing space.”

A ban on surcharge fees, on top of what it costs to process a transaction, came into effect on October 1.

The tax office on that date announced that it would no longer accept credit card payments from December 1.

The Federal Government on Thursday said it would direct the tax office to consult more with business groups, after Labor ministers and MPs expressed concerns about the credit card payments ban.