Can my accountant set up an ATO payment plan for me?

What a registered agent can do

The ATO treats a registered agent as your authorised representative once you are linked to them. In practice your accountant can:

• See every ATO account, balance, lodgement status and existing plan on the agent portal, which is often more than you can easily see yourself.
• Set up a payment plan online on your income tax or activity statement account where the debt is $200,000 or less, including the upfront amount and direct debit details.
• Phone the ATO's agent line to negotiate a plan for larger debts, plans beyond 2 years, or where the online channel is closed because of two defaults in 12 months.
• Lodge the outstanding returns or BAS that are usually the first obstacle to a plan.
• Request remission of general interest charge and penalties in writing alongside the plan.

A BAS agent can do this for activity statement debt. An income tax plan generally needs a tax agent. An unregistered bookkeeper or a friend who is good with numbers cannot act for you with the ATO at all.

What an agent cannot do

An agent does not change the ATO's rules. The same $200,000 online threshold applies, the plan still attracts general interest charge, and the ATO still assesses capacity to pay on a negotiated plan. Your accountant cannot promise a particular outcome or make a debt disappear.

The other limit is responsibility. The plan is in your name. If an instalment fails, the ATO writes to you, and the default is yours. If a company director is involved, a plan set up by the accountant does not remit a director penalty notice. Keep an eye on your own ATO online services even when someone else is managing the account.

When it is worth having your accountant do it

For a straightforward debt under $200,000 with lodgements up to date, setting the plan up yourself online takes a few minutes and costs nothing. Paying an accountant to do the same thing rarely adds much.

An agent earns their fee where the situation is messier: a backlog of lodgements, a debt over $200,000, a history of defaults, or a business where the plan needs to be built around cash flow and a viability story. Most accountants charge their normal hourly rate for this, so ask for an estimate. Some accountants are not comfortable negotiating with the ATO and will say so. In that case a tax debt specialist who does it every day may be the better fit, and can work alongside your existing accountant rather than replacing them.

What to do next

1. Check that your accountant is a registered tax or BAS agent and that you are linked to them with the ATO.
2. Ask them to confirm every outstanding lodgement and the balance on each account before proposing a plan.
3. Agree who is monitoring the plan, and keep your own ATO online services login so you can see if anything goes into arrears.

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