Sharon: “We’ve paid what we owe — so why are we being chased?”

Sharon’s business had fallen behind on super payments during a difficult period but she had done the right thing and caught up. But then a debt notice arrived.

Sharon was given conflicting information on the notice and what she could do to fix it. But funds had already been taken from her account and she was being told it could take months to resolve.

When Sharon came to us, we asked the ATO a simple question: did its system accurately reflect the information provided?

The ATO confirmed it didn’t and that the discrepancy was the result of an error in how the amendments had been recorded. The forms were re-entered, and instead of a debt, a credit of more than $1,500 was restored to Sharon’s account.

For Sharon, this was about more than just getting the money back, it was the closure. After months of trying to work through conflicting advice, she now had confirmation this was an ATO error and it wasn’t hers to fix.