ATO Compliance and Lodgement Support
Bringing overdue obligations back under control — outstanding lodgements, ATO correspondence and payment arrangements — and dealing with the ATO on your behalf.
Falling behind with the ATO is rarely a single event. It usually starts with one missed activity statement during a busy quarter, compounds while the business focuses on trading, and becomes visible when a letter arrives or a refund is offset against a debt nobody had quantified. By that point the practical problem is not the tax — it is that nobody knows the full extent of what is outstanding.
The first job is therefore to establish the actual position: which lodgements are outstanding, for which entities and periods, what the ATO believes is owed, and which of that is real versus the product of a default assessment raised in the absence of a return. Only then is it possible to decide what to lodge, in what order, and what to ask the ATO for.
What this covers
- Establishing the positionA full picture of outstanding lodgements and balances across every entity, so decisions are made against facts rather than assumptions.
- Overdue lodgementsBringing outstanding returns and activity statements up to date in a sequence that makes sense, since each period affects the next.
- ATO correspondenceReading, interpreting and responding to ATO letters, including the ones that look alarming but are routine, and the ones that do not.
- Payment arrangementsPreparing and lodging requests for payment arrangements, supported by the financial information the ATO expects to see.
- Penalty and interest remissionRequesting remission where there are genuine grounds, presented with supporting evidence rather than a bare assertion.
- Ongoing obligation calendarA clear schedule of what is due and when, so the same backlog does not rebuild after it has been cleared.
Who this suits
Businesses with a lodgement backlog. Where activity statements or returns have been missed across several periods and the total position is unclear.
Anyone holding unopened ATO letters. Where correspondence has accumulated because nobody was sure what it meant or what happens if it is answered.
Businesses with an ATO debt. Where the liability is real and the practical question is how to structure repayment without stopping trading.
How it works
Full position review
We establish exactly what is outstanding and what is owed, across every entity, before recommending anything.
Prioritise
Some obligations carry more consequence than others. Work is sequenced so the highest-risk items are addressed first.
Lodge and engage
Outstanding lodgements are brought up to date and, where appropriate, we open the conversation with the ATO on your behalf.
Prevent recurrence
A lodgement calendar and, where needed, a bookkeeping cycle so the obligations stay met once the backlog is cleared.
This is ongoing obligation management and negotiation. If the ATO has instead commenced a formal audit or review of a position you have already taken, that is a different exercise with different stakes — see audit support and representation. Where the outcome is simply that returns need preparing, that work runs through taxation services.
Works well with
Common questions
Will making contact with the ATO draw attention to me?
Can penalties and interest be reduced?
What if I genuinely cannot pay the amount owing?
Speak to a chartered accountant
Tell us what you need and we’ll let you know whether we can help, what it involves and what it costs — before you commit to anything.