From 22 January the Tax Office will stop accepting penalty remission requests through phone calls, letters or ad hoc online messages and will instead require tax agents to use specific forms for general interest charges, shortfall interest charges and failure to lodge penalties, after a drop in approvals this financial year triggered complaints about opaque and inconsistent decisions.
At present registered agents can raise remission requests in a variety of ways, which has made the process flexible but harder to track and compare. Concerns grew in 2024–25 as more agents reported that similar cases were being treated differently, which prompted both the Tax Office and the tax ombudsman to start separate reviews into how taxpayer relief is managed and why outcomes vary so widely.
Under the updated approach agents will have to download new forms from the Tax Office website and submit them via the online services platform for agents, with those who do not use the system able to provide their information over the phone so staff can complete and lodge the form on their behalf. This will effectively funnel all requests into a specialist team that is intended to apply the rules more consistently. The expectation is that this structured format will help agents present the facts and evidence the Tax Office needs upfront, but the agency is already indicating that response times may lengthen as the new process is introduced and staff work through a centralised queue.
More broadly this move appears to be an attempt to balance fairness and administrative control, as standard forms and a dedicated team are likely to reduce the sense of “luck of the draw” that many taxpayers have reported about interest remissions. The extra steps and potential delays could frustrate agents who value the human element of direct conversations and the real test will be whether the promised clarity and consistency actually eventuate once the ombudsman’s broader review is finished and any further reforms are added to this interim system.
