How do I know if the ATO has issued a garnishee notice?

How people usually find out

A garnishee notice is a letter from the ATO to someone who holds or owes you money, telling them to pay the ATO instead. No court is involved and the third party has to comply. Because the notice goes to them first, the signs often show up before your own copy does.

• Your bank balance drops. The transaction may be labelled with the ATO's name, "garnishee", "third party notice" or just "legal processing". A garnishee fee from the bank often appears at the same time.
• Your pay is short. An employer served with a notice deducts a percentage of your after-tax wages and usually tells you why. See wage garnishees.
• A customer or head contractor says they have been told to pay the ATO. This is the business debtor version and it can spread quickly through your customer base.
• A letter arrives. Your copy of the notice is posted to your address on the ATO's records, or sent to your myGov or Online services inbox. If your address is out of date, you may not see it for weeks.

How to confirm it in ten minutes

1. Log in to ATO online services (myGov for individuals and sole traders, Online services for business for companies). Open your activity statement or income tax account and look at recent transactions. A garnishee payment shows as a credit against the debt. Check the communication history for the notice itself.
2. Ring your bank. Ask whether the bank has received a third party notice from the ATO, the date it was received, and whether it is a one-off notice or a continuing one. The bank cannot refuse to process the notice, but it can tell you what it has received.
3. Ask the ATO directly. The general debt line is 13 11 42. Ask which notices are on your account, who they were sent to, and whether they are continuing.
4. Ask your tax agent if you have one. Agents can see correspondence in their online services and often spot it before the client does.

If you see a message or call demanding payment to stop a garnishee, be careful. A genuine ATO notice never asks for payment by gift card, crypto or transfer to a personal account. Read how to check whether an ATO letter is real before acting on it.

What your copy of the notice tells you

The copy is worth reading properly because it answers the questions that matter most:

• Who it was served on (a named bank, employer or customer).
• The amount the ATO is seeking, which is usually the whole debt including interest.
• Whether it is a one-off notice, which takes what is available on the day, or a continuing notice, which keeps taking money until the debt is cleared or the notice is withdrawn. How long a garnishee lasts depends on this.
• The date it was issued. That tells you what the ATO knew about your account at the time.

Once you know which type it is and who received it, you can decide what to do. For most people the fastest route out is bringing lodgements up to date and putting a realistic payment plan in place, because the ATO will usually consider withdrawing or varying a notice once suitable arrangements are made.

What to do next

1. Log in to ATO online services and check your account transactions and communication history for a garnishee notice.
2. Ring your bank and ask whether the notice is one-off or continuing and when it was received.
3. Bring any overdue lodgements up to date, then call the ATO on 13 11 42 about a payment plan and ask for the notice to be withdrawn.

More questions: 8 Garnishee notice questions questions answered · Full guide: Garnishee notices