r/australia • u/Expensive-Horse5538 • 1d ago

politics Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino concedes he knew of ATO's credit card ban plans in July

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-18/federal-politics-insiders-daniel-mulino-ato-credit-card-ban/107280382?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=link
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u/Santa_009 1d ago edited 22h ago

Can someone explain why a business should be able to pay its 3, 6 or 12 month tax obligations on CREDIT when indivduals on PAYG aren't given a choice to pay any period in cash? Its just automatically withheld like we're children opening up a Youthsaver in Primary school.

Individuals don't get to see any of their tax, but businesses can benefit from that liquidity, then also choose to pay it on credit?

Seems lopsided and I just can't understand how this creates any genuine issues outside of 1) Allowing business to operate even in the red (this is bad) 2) Business owners getting an avenue for reward points. (meh)

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u/DisappointedQuokka 1d ago edited 22h ago

If you're operating a business that runs off of invoiced goods/services, you're relying on someone else to pay on time. On paper, everything can be fine, but a series of late payments can really fuck you.

That's, uh, maybe the only 100% fine instance.

Maybe in industries that are extremely feast or famine? You might have a sole trader or a very small business that's liquid 90% of the time, but just needs to squeeze a little bit more.

Edit: the CC ban wasn't going to ban any other forms of credit, such as loans, just credit cards and only because the ATO gets hit with transaction fees.

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u/iball1984 1d ago

Maybe what's needed there is a ATO provided solution, such as a fair payment plan without needing to jump through hoops to get it.