Tax office convenes snap meeting over credit card ban
New regulation has put a ban on card surcharges. (Adobe Stock)
In short:
Business groups have accused the ATO of having "double standards" for refusing to accept credit card payments from November 30.
The tax office said it was not appropriate for it to absorb the surcharge fees itself because that would effectively transfer the cost to the taxpayer.
What's next?
The ATO has called a special forum for members of its small business stewardship group to discuss the changes.
Australia's tax chief has convened a snap meeting with business groups in the wake of backlash over a decision to stop accepting credit card payments.
Last week, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) announced it would stop accepting credit card payments at the end of next month.
That step came in response to the Reserve Bank of Australia's reforms to scrap card surcharges from October 1, which the bank said was "in the public interest" and would save customers about $1.6 billion a year.
The ATO said it would continue accepting credit cards until November 30 to allow for a transition period, saying it was untenable beyond that point.
But the move has sparked anger among some business groups and small business owners.
They say they have been expected to absorb the fees of card transactions themselves, and have lost the option of using credit card payments to the ATO as a cash flow method.
Andrew McKellar, chief executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), is calling for the ATO credit card ban to be reversed.
"There is a clear double standard here. Government is telling small business to absorb the hit from the surcharge ban and its cost, while the tax office is saying a different set of rules applies to it," he said.
"Small business is the backbone of the economy. They are doing it tough, with rising costs and a fourth interest rate increase last week."
Master Builders CEO Denita Wawn said the surcharge card ban and other regulatory decisions were made "without consultation" and showed a "lack of practical understanding of the impact of decisions being made by this government".
"It's quite incredulous," she told News 24 yesterday afternoon.
"Who would want to be a small business operator in this country at the moment?"
The ATO has called a special forum with small business groups to discuss the changes this morning.
The ABC has approached the ATO for comment.
In a statement on October 2, taxation commissioner Rob Heferen said the ATO "would have preferred to continue accepting credit cards" but credit card companies declined to offer a rate that was low enough.
"The costs associated with accepting credit card payments are significant, with merchant fees estimated to be almost $200 million annually and expected to continue increasing over time," he said in the statement.
"It is not tenable for the ATO to absorb the costs associated with accepting credit cards on an ongoing basis.
"This would result in less revenue being collected by the ATO and, ultimately, less funding being available for all government services."
Small business have criticised the ATO over its credit card ban. (ABC News: Nassim Khadem)
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor called for the government to "instruct" the ATO to reverse their decision.
"This is a government that says to small businesses, 'You've got to absorb the surcharges,' and then the Australian Tax Office says, 'We're not going to accept credit card payments because we can't accept the surcharges,'" Mr Taylor said.
"The hypocrisy of this government knows no bounds."
Other entities have also signalled they will stop accepting credit card payments, including StrataPay, some private schools, local councils, and rental payment platforms.
The ATO has said credit card payments make up only 2.3 per cent of payments to the tax office.
It said "more than 60 per cent of credit card payments by value were made by privately owned and wealthy groups, and public and multinational businesses", while about 5 per cent of all small businesses used credit cards to pay their taxes.