An accountant has called out the Australian Taxation Office for refusing to refund an extra $20,000 payment her client accidentally made.
Hive Wise founder Hripsime Demirdjian claimed her client owed the ATO $20,000 but accidentally processed the payment twice, so she requested a refund on their behalf.
Ms Demirdjian contacted the government agency again 14 days later after noticing the refund hadn’t been processed.
The ATO advised her the funds would be withheld as the client had an upcoming bill.
‘They were like, “Oh, we can’t process this refund because you’ve got a balance sitting on your ATO account”,’ Ms Demirdjian explained in a video last week.
‘We’re like, “Yes, we’re aware of that. However, that balance is not yet due. The client will pay that amount later in the month, closer to the due date”.’
The accountant said her client had no overdue payments but did have a large bill of about $150,000 approaching.
‘It was very unusual because we’ve had a lot of success in the past requesting refunds from the ATO,’ she told Yahoo News.
Hripsime Demirdjian (pictured) said taxpayers should never pre-pay the ATO
‘So it was a bit shocking that we were experiencing some difficulties with this one, particularly because this client does have a good lodging history with the ATO.’
Ms Demirdjian acknowledged her client did owe money later to the ATO, but they were entitled to receive the payment back before this was due.
‘The fact of the matter is that it’s not the ATO’s money,’ she said.
An ATO spokesperson said the department could not comment on individual cases but explained its processes with refunds.
‘If a taxpayer has a debt with the ATO, we are required by law to use any payments made, available credits, or refunds they become entitled to, to pay off the debt, except in very limited circumstances,’ the spokesperson said.
‘Where a taxpayer pays the ATO more than what they currently owe, they can contact the ATO to request a refund of the excess amount that has been paid.’
Ms Demirdjian addressed the ATO’s refusal to refund the extra $20,000 payment in her video, saying: ‘That $20,000 was double paid. We want that back and we want it back now.
‘It’s not your money, just give it back. Why are you fighting us on this?’
An accountant’s client accidentally paid a $20,000 ATO bill twice, which it refused to refund
While her client is not being ‘negatively impacted’ by the missing funds, Ms Demirdjian believes the story serves as an example of why Aussies shouldn’t pre-pay the ATO.
‘When things like this happen, it just reiterates my viewpoint of not pre-paying tax to the ATO,’ she said.
‘I know there’s people out there who like to pay the PAYG upfront each time they process payroll or pre-pay an amount on their ATO account.
‘I’m personally not a fan of that because of things like this. Once you give money to the ATO, god help you trying to get that money back in case you ever need it.
‘Once you’ve given it to the ATO, forget it existed.’
Instead, Ms Demirdjian recommended taxpayers save money from each paycheck in a separate bank account.
‘You can earn interest on that bank account and make use of your money there. But the purpose is the money is set aside knowing it is going to be used to extinguish your ATO debt when it falls due in the future,’ she said.
The accountant added by saving the money, it allowed small businesses better control over their cash flow as many face ‘make or break’ situations in the current cost of living crisis.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the ATO for further comment.