‘Psychologically unsettling’: ATO pursuing more taxpayers for decades-old debt

Tax office has launched a new initiative to claw back debts despite criticism of similar scheme dubbed ‘robotax’

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The Australian Taxation Office is pursuing a new batch of taxpayers over decades-old debts, drawing comparisons to its widely criticised and suspended “robotax” initiative.

One taxpayer was recently pursued over a supposed debt of a few thousand dollars from 2006, which only appeared on his online tax portal this year, and was followed up by several phone calls demanding payment.