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We’ve come to the conclusion that the truth about the Australian Taxation Office’s bullying of self-employed people will only come out in a full Royal Commission inquiry.

We’ve been strongly prompted to this conclusion by an article in The Australian yesterday by the doyen of business columnists, Robert Gottliebsen. Robert is correct in his article 'The ATO is repeating the hideous mistakes of bank boards'. More...

We read yesterday in the Australian Financial Review that the Australian Taxation office is implementing a new process on fraud and evasion ‘opinions’. Remember that the ATO has two years to query your tax return. After that, your return is locked in.

But, if the ATO ‘forms an opinion’ that you committed fraud or evasion, it can go back in time as long as it likes. The ATO doesn’t have to prove fraud or evasion, just ‘form an opinion’. This power has been massively abused by the ATO, mainly against self-employed people! More...

Since the Four Corners show ‘Mongrel Bunch of Bastards’, which exposed the abuse by the ATO of small business people, the ATO has been in denial mode. The ATO’s press release is essentially a ‘nothing to see here folks’ statement.

The Australian Services Union, representing ATO staff, has demanded that we at Self-Employed Australia apologise for ‘scurrilous’ accusations. It is outraged by our statements in our submission opposing the ATO credit agency report Bill. It’s pleasing to report that this Bill has now been put ‘on hold’ by the Minister, Kelly O’Dwyer.  More...

ATO today released a Media Statement in response to the Four Corners show ('Mongrel Bunch of Bastards') last night.

To our mind the ATO is in denial. But we will leave you to judge. Its release is below. Also, the ATO union—the ASU—has defended the ATO.

Again you judge! More...

If you watched ABC Four Corners last night, the evidence of the ATO's abusing its powers against small business people was compelling.

However, it’s one thing to understand the abuse! It’s another thing to find solutions. That’s why we’ve put together, with considerable legal input, a reform agenda for the ATO.

Today we launch, The Power to Audit is the Power to Destroy. More...

The evidence mounts on the ATO’s abuse of its powers with small business people. This will culminate in the Four Corners full story this Monday, ABC 8:30.

We highly recommend you watch this. The Four Corners TV promo is here. 

There has already been considerable coverage: More...

We thought we’d been strong in our criticism of the Australian Taxation Office! But the ABC Four Corners show airing this Monday 9 April at 8.30pm takes the criticism to a whole new level!

We’ve said of the ATO that it: More...

Some might say 'Panic.' We say 'Be aware!' 'Be prepared!'

Our coverage and criticism of the ATO's treatment of small business people is extensive. See here.  We understand why some people might think we are exaggerating. Surely the stories are 'one-offs?'  More...

Earlier this month we labelled a proposed Victorian law a 'shocker'. We said that we were preparing a detailed analysis which we have now done. A short summary is here.

The Victorian Labour Hire Licensing Bill is a 'shocker' because it strips away basic access to justice to which everyone in the community should be entitled. More...

If you didn't read it, do so. It's the ABC's report of a memo sent by the ATO to its staff. The memo tells ATO staff to report on other staff who spend too much time eating, reading the paper at work or 'fudging' their work hours. We had to ask ourselves on reading the report, 'in what century is the ATO operating? The 1800s?'

Karl Marx would rightly call ATO staff 'wage slaves.'  Charles Dickens would describe their existence as downtrodden. Frankly, what a horrid place in which to work! The ATO must be a 'paper pushing, time pressure factory'. Forget results! Dump quality! Just do your hours! But for us it suddenly explains a lot.  More...