Can the ATO stop me leaving Australia?

How a departure prohibition order works

A DPO is an administrative decision made by the Commissioner of Taxation. The test is whether the ATO believes the order is desirable to make sure your tax liability is paid or properly dealt with before you leave. No judge is involved. Once made, the order is passed to border authorities and airlines, and it stays in force until the debt is paid, a satisfactory arrangement is made, or the ATO decides the debt is irrecoverable.

Trying to leave anyway is an offence under tax law, with penalties that can include imprisonment. That is the one place a tax debt can turn criminal, so nobody with a DPO should test it at the gate.

The numbers stay small. The ATO issued 21 DPOs between July 2025 and mid 2026, against tens of thousands of garnishee notices in the same period. It is the sharp end of the toolkit, not a routine step.

Who actually gets one

The ATO is not scanning passenger lists for everyone with a debt. A DPO tends to follow a particular profile:

• A large personal tax debt with no payment arrangement in place.
• Evidence of capacity to pay: assets, income or lifestyle that do not match the claim of hardship.
• Money or assets moving offshore, or frequent overseas travel while the debt sits unpaid.
• A history of ignored letters, broken arrangements and unanswered calls.

Company debts are not personal debts, so a director is not exposed to a DPO for a company liability unless it has become personal, usually through a director penalty notice. If you owe the ATO and are on a plan you are keeping, a DPO is very unlikely. The same logic runs through everything on can the ATO take my house: enforcement follows disengagement and recoverable assets, not the debt alone.

Travelling while a DPO is in force

You can apply for a departure authorisation certificate (DAC). It covers one specified trip and does not cancel the order. The ATO grants one only when it is satisfied you will come back and the trip will not hinder recovery, and it may ask for security such as a deposit. Compassionate travel and trips that improve your ability to pay have the best chance. A holiday while a large debt sits untouched does not.

Getting it lifted

Full payment obliges the ATO to revoke. Short of that, the practical route is a credible arrangement, sometimes secured against property, that shows the debt will be dealt with. Because a DPO signals the ATO has already judged you as disengaged, a phone call offering a small monthly amount rarely does it; specialist help with negotiating the arrangement is usually worth it. You can also apply to a court to review the order. If you are living overseas or thinking about leaving, read can the ATO chase me overseas first.

What to do next

1. Log in and check your ATO correspondence for any notice of a departure prohibition order, and update your address if it is wrong.
2. If you have a large personal debt and no arrangement, start one before you book travel, not after.
3. If a DPO has already been issued, get specialist help to negotiate its revocation or a departure authorisation certificate before your travel date.

More questions: 21 What the ATO can and can't do questions answered · Full guide: Can the ATO take my house?