During his address at the Tax Institute today, ATO Commissioner Rob Heferen disclosed that the agency is currently chasing approximately $50 billion in recoverable debt.

“This debt is primarily uncontested, with most amounts self-reported. A considerable share includes funds withheld from employees’ salaries, or collected as GST from consumers, yet not remitted to the government,” he noted.

“We’re deploying every possible measure to retrieve these dues from the 22,000 debtors – including issuing statutory payment demands, initiating wind-up procedures, director penalty notices, garnishee orders, and imposing departure prohibition orders.”

The $50 billion in unsettled debts closely rivals Australia’s entire annual defense expenditure, whereas the $11 billion surpasses the federal government’s allocation for its primary election initiatives, such as enhancing bulk billing under Medicare and extending energy bill discounts for an additional six months combined.

Earlier in his speech, Heferen gave an update on tax returns for the 2024-25 financial year.

Roughly two months before the October 31 deadline, around 25% of taxpayers had submitted their returns, receiving a substantial average refund.

“By August 24, over 6.1 million tax returns had been filed, with more than 4.5 million refunds distributed, totaling $12 billion – an average refund of $2639,” he shared.