The report on objections finalises a review that has been conducted over several years, including the publication of an interim report on 10 October 2022.

Objections are an essential part of the tax system and are often the only affordable option open to many taxpayers to challenge tax office decisions. We believe it’s imperative that the function is easily accessed and operates without undue delays.

Our report has recommended changes to make it faster and simpler for all taxpayers to lodge an objection with the ATO. The report highlights 4 areas of improvement

• increasing accessibility by extending online lodgement to all taxpayers
• streamlining processes to reduce time and resources devoted to high volume, low risk objections
• increasing taxpayer engagement to speed up the time taken to complete an objection
• learning lessons from objections to prevent the number of objections needing to be made.