Making a complaint

How the IGT can assist you

The IGT can assist you with concerns or complaints you may have in relation to the administrative actions taken by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) or the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB).

‘Administrative action’ is a broad term.  It generally covers the fairness and reasonableness of the ATO and TPB’s approach in dealings or interactions with you.

Examples of dealings or interactions the IGT can assist you with include:

• the timeliness of responses to your requests;
• the conduct of ATO or TPB officers;
• the availability of services (such as the Tax Agent Portal); or
• whether the ATO auditor has considered all relevant information provided in your case.

Examples of dealings or interactions the IGT is not empowered to assist you with include:

• rules or laws about your obligation to pay  an amount of tax; or
• rules or laws about the quantification of that amount of tax.

The powers of the IGT in this regard are set out in the Inspector-General of Taxation Act 2003 (as amended in 2015). Further details are available on the Our Legislation page.

If we are not empowered to assist you we will still seek to assist by referring you to an agency or support provider who may be able to do so.

How to contact the IGT

The easiest way to contact the IGT is making a complaint using our online form.

Please be aware that many matters may be quickly resolved by contacting the internal complaints departments of the ATO and the TPB directly. You may wish to contact them to discuss your concerns before lodging a complaint with the IGT. Relevant contact details are provided through the links below:

• ATO Complaints
• TPB Complaints

If you decide to make a complaint, please be advised that:

• This form must be completed in one sitting.
• All fields which are marked with a red asterisk (*) are mandatory.
• You should have on hand electronic copies of any relevant documents you may want to attach with your complaint.
• If you are making this complaint on behalf of another person, we will need to confirm that you are authorised by that other person to discuss their affairs. We have prepared a standard authorisation form which also may be accessed through the Complaint Form.

Other Contact

If you are experiencing difficulties using this form, you may also contact us Monday to Friday between 9am and 4pm Sydney time by:

Telephone: 1300 44 88 29

Facsimile: 02 8239 2100

Post: GPO Box 551, Sydney NSW 2001

To ensure that we provide a consistent service to our stakeholders, please be advised that the IGT does not accept complaints by way of direct email or direct telephone calls to any members of staff.

Please note that correspondence received by post may take longer to process and we may not be able to respond to you as quickly as we would like.

If you are a non-English speaking person, we can help you through the Translating and Interpreter Service (TIS) on 131 450. If you are hearing, sight or speech impaired, please call the National Relay Service on 133 677.