ATO debt help near me: city-by-city guides for business owners

Who do we help with ATO debt across Australia?

We help business owners in every state who owe the tax office and want a straight answer about their options. Some are sole traders who fell behind on GST after a slow year. Others run companies with dozens of staff and a PAYG withholding debt that now threatens the directors personally. Most have one thing in common: they’ve been too busy keeping the business alive to deal with the tax office, and now the letters are getting firmer.

When people search for “ATO debt help near me”, they usually want two things: someone nearby who understands their situation, and a sense of what’s actually possible. The good news is that the ATO’s rules are national, so the core options are the same in Cairns as in Hobart. The parts that change from place to place are the state taxes that build up alongside ATO debt, the free local services available, and the industries that tend to get caught.

Choose your city

Each guide below is written for that city’s businesses: the state revenue office you may also owe, the free support available locally, the industries most affected, and a worked example.

City	State revenue office	Free local support	Guide
Brisbane	Queensland Revenue Office	Small Business Financial Counselling (Queensland)	ATO debt help Brisbane
Sydney	Revenue NSW	NSW Small Business Commissioner	ATO debt help Sydney
Melbourne	State Revenue Office Victoria	Victorian Small Business Commission	ATO debt help Melbourne
Perth	RevenueWA	Small Business Development Corporation	ATO debt help Perth
Adelaide	RevenueSA	Small Business Commissioner SA	ATO debt help Adelaide
Gold Coast	Queensland Revenue Office	Small Business Financial Counselling (Southern Queensland)	ATO debt help Gold Coast

Not in one of these cities? Everything in the rest of this page applies to you too.

What free ATO debt help is available everywhere?

Before you borrow a dollar, use the free options. They cost nothing, and even if you end up funding the debt, they help you understand your position.

Small Business Debt Helpline — 1800 413 828. Free, independent financial counselling for small business owners. A counsellor can help you work out whether the business is viable, what to prioritise and how to approach your creditors. If you’re a sole trader and the debt is personal, the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007 is the equivalent for individuals.

The ATO itself. You can set up or change a payment plan online or by phone. The ATO also considers requests to remit general interest charge in some situations and can sometimes defer a payment. Our pages on ATO payment plans, GIC remission and hardship and deferrals explain each one.

Your state’s small business commissioner or agency. Every mainland state has one. They don’t lend money or negotiate with the ATO, but if your cash shortfall comes from a customer who won’t pay, a landlord dispute or a fight with a franchisor, they can help resolve it cheaply. Recovering money you’re owed is often the least expensive way to pay a tax bill.

A registered tax agent. Anyone who negotiates with the ATO for a fee should be registered with the Tax Practitioners Board. If an adviser promises to make your debt disappear, read the questions to ask a tax debt adviser first.

Why do state taxes matter as much as the ATO?

The ATO is often only half the problem. Every state collects its own payroll tax from employers above a wage threshold, and its own land tax on property holdings above a threshold. These are owed to the state revenue office, not the ATO.

That has three practical consequences:

1. A plan with the ATO doesn’t stop the state. Each creditor needs its own arrangement.
2. The rules differ by state. For example, RevenueSA says instalment arrangements are generally only granted if you ask before the due date, while RevenueWA lets employers apply online for payroll tax instalments or an extension, with interest. Our city guides set out what each state office says.
3. Lenders want the whole picture. If you seek funding, disclose both federal and state tax debts. A loan that clears only the ATO while a state debt keeps escalating doesn’t solve the problem.

How does funding work, whatever your location?

We are a business funder, not an insolvency firm, a liquidator or a tax agent. Where borrowing leaves you better off than a long plan, we can help. Location doesn’t change the way we assess an application.

• Property-secured loans from $20k to $5m. First mortgages, second mortgages and caveat loans over residential or commercial property in any state or territory.
• Unsecured and cash-flow options, typically $5k to $500k, for trading businesses, sized on turnover and bank statements.
• ATO debt, payment-plan defaults and past credit issues considered case by case.
• Speed. Funding possible in as little as 24 hours for property-secured loans.
• Direct payment. Where it’s arranged at settlement, funds can be paid straight to the ATO.

All lending is for business purposes only. We don’t operate branch offices in the cities above; you deal with a specialist by phone and online, which means no travel and no time away from the business. Our page on how tax debt loans work walks through the process, and the main tax debt loans section covers every type of funding in detail.

If you already know funding is likely to be your best route, you can start a 60-second enquiry now.

What should you have ready before you ask for help?

Whoever you call first, a counsellor, the ATO, your state revenue office or us, the conversation goes faster with a few documents to hand:

• your latest ATO statement of account, showing what’s owed and how it’s split between GST, PAYG and super;
• any state revenue office notices for payroll tax or land tax;
• your last few activity statements and the most recent tax return;
• three to six months of business bank statements; and
• if you own property, a rough idea of its value and what’s owed on it.

You don’t need everything perfect before you start. But knowing these numbers means the first call becomes a plan rather than a fact-finding exercise, and it helps everyone, including the ATO, see that you’re serious about fixing the problem.

When is a loan the wrong answer?

Borrowing is not always the right call, and we’d rather tell you that early. A loan usually doesn’t make sense if:

• the business is losing money every month and there’s no clear way to turn that around;
• the ATO will accept an affordable plan and you can comfortably keep up with it;
• the debt is disputed and likely to be reduced; or
• the only security available is property you can’t afford to put at risk.

In those situations, free counselling, a negotiated plan or a formal restructure may be better. Our ATO debt options section ranks every route by cost and control, and the ATO notices section explains how much time you have at each stage of escalation.

Ready to talk about your situation?

Wherever your business is, owing the ATO doesn’t mean you’re out of options, and we’re one of the few funders who actively want to help owners in this position. The enquiry takes about a minute and there’s no credit check when you first enquire, so asking won’t leave a mark on your file. We won’t send your details to a pile of lenders. A specialist reviews your situation and calls you personally. Please fill in the form accurately, including any state tax debts, so we can point you to the right option from the first conversation.

See if your business qualifies →