Will the ATO call me about a debt?

When the ATO phones you

A phone call is rarely the first contact. The ATO works through a ladder: a reminder in your myGov inbox or by SMS, then a letter, then phone calls, then firmer letters. The full sequence is set out on our guide to ATO letters and notices.

You are most likely to get a call when:

• A debt is overdue and you have not responded to earlier reminders.
• A payment plan has just defaulted or a direct debit failed.
• You have overdue lodgements, which the ATO now treats as seriously as unpaid amounts.
• Your debt has been referred to recoveriescorp, the agency the ATO has used since January 2024. Those calls come from the agency, not the ATO, but they are still legitimate. See how ATO debt collectors work.

The ATO's own phone lines run 8:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday to Friday, and its outbound calling is a business-hours activity. A call late at night claiming to be the ATO deserves extra suspicion.

What a genuine ATO call sounds like

The ATO says that when it phones you, you will not see a number on caller ID. That is normal and is not a scam sign on its own. From there, a real call has a predictable shape:

• The officer gives their name and says which part of the ATO they are calling from.
• They ask you to confirm your identity before they discuss anything. They should not be surprised if you decline and offer to call back.
• They talk about the actual debt or lodgement, not about a mystery refund or a warrant.
• They point you to your normal payment reference or to ATO online services, not to a new account.

The ATO has stated it will never threaten you with arrest, demand that you stay on the line, send unsolicited robocalls, or ask for payment by gift card, cryptocurrency, cash delivery or a personal or offshore bank account. Any one of those ends the conversation.

What to do when the phone rings

You do not have to make decisions on the spot. A calm, safe response is:

1. Ask for the caller's name and the reason for the call, and say you will call back.
2. Open the ATO app and use the verify call feature. The ATO says a notification confirms a genuine call within 30 seconds.
3. Log in to ATO online services through myGov yourself and look at your account. If there is a debt, it will be there.
4. Call the ATO back on 13 11 42, the lodge and pay line, and quote what the caller said.

Our 60-second checklist at is this ATO call real? walks through the same steps in order. If the debt is genuine, the call itself is a chance to sort it out. Most debts under $200,000 can go onto a payment plan the same day, and knowing what to say when you call makes that conversation much easier.

What to do next

1. Do not give any details to an unexpected caller; take their name and say you will call back.
2. Check your account in ATO online services through myGov, or use the verify call feature in the ATO app.
3. Call 13 11 42 to confirm the debt and, if it is real, ask about a payment plan while you are on the line.

More questions: 11 Calls, texts, letters and scams questions answered · Full guide: ATO letters & notices