How to ask the ATO to remit interest

To ask the ATO to remit interest, you make a remission request by phone, by post or through ATO online services, usually on the ATO's GIC or SIC remission application form. The request needs to explain what caused the late payment, how it stopped you paying on time and what you did about it, because the ATO can only remit general interest charge (GIC) on late payments on the grounds in section 8AAG of the Taxation Administration Act 1953 (TAA).

You can ask at any time, but the onus is generally on you to give the ATO enough information to decide (ATO practice statement PS LA 2011/12, para 8). There is no right to object if a GIC request is refused, so make the first request complete. We prepare remission requests as part of our GIC remission work, often alongside your accountant.

Is there an ATO GIC remission application form?

Yes. The ATO publishes separate remission application forms for GIC (an Excel spreadsheet), shortfall interest charge (SIC) and failure to lodge penalties (ATO, "How to request a remission of interest and failure to lodge penalties", last updated 14 July 2026). Section 8AAG prescribes no form, but the ATO says requests on the wrong form may take longer and it may ask you to resubmit.

• One form per taxpayer and per charge. GIC and SIC need separate forms.
• One GIC form covers all accounts. Don't send separate forms for income tax and the activity statement.
• Excel only for GIC online. If you lodge the GIC form through online services, attach it as the Excel file, not a PDF or a scan.
• Download it fresh. The ATO says it may update the forms regularly.

The ATO's remission pages and PS LA 2011/12 both carry notices that the ATO is reviewing its approach to remission, so check the current guidance and form before you lodge.

How do you request remission of interest from the ATO?

The channel depends on who is asking (same ATO page, July 2026).

Who is asking	Channels the ATO accepts
Registered tax or BAS agent	Online services for agents (practice mail), or phone or post if there's no access
Business, including a sole trader with an ABN	Online services (secure mail), phone or post
Individual	Phone or post
Lawyer acting for the taxpayer	Post or phone

Online, you attach the form and evidence to a new secure mail (or practice mail) message with the subject "Remission of general interest charge", one form per message.

Small amounts and phone requests

You can generally ask for GIC remission over the phone, but the ATO says that if the interest or penalty is more than $2,500, the request goes to a dedicated team and you won't get a decision on the call. Where the GIC is relatively low, for example $2,500 or less, the ATO says a good compliance history will strongly influence its decision (ATO, "Remission of interest charges", last updated 22 January 2026).

What should a GIC remission request include?

Where GIC arose because a debt was paid late, the ATO can remit only if it is satisfied that one of three grounds applies (TAA s 8AAG(2)). Build the request around one of them.

Ground	What you need to show	Examples from the ATO
Not your fault (s 8AAG(3))	The circumstances weren't caused by you, and you took reasonable action to mitigate them or their effects	Natural disaster, industrial action, unforeseen collapse of a major debtor, sudden ill health of key people in a small business, family violence or other vulnerability (PS LA 2011/12, para 15)
Your doing, but fair to remit (s 8AAG(4))	You caused the circumstances, took reasonable action to mitigate them, and remission is fair and reasonable given their nature	A soundly advised decision with unforeseen severe consequences, where you had plans in place to pay on time (para 23)
Special circumstances, or otherwise appropriate (s 8AAG(5))	Special circumstances make remission fair and reasonable, or it is otherwise appropriate	A consistently good payment record with one isolated late payment (para 27)

The ATO says the "otherwise appropriate" limb is decided only by senior officers and is more likely to be used for groups of taxpayers than for one taxpayer's case (paras 29–31).

Whichever ground applies, cover these points:

1. The debt. The accounts, periods and amount of GIC, and whether you want full or partial remission.
2. What happened. The event or circumstances, with dates.
3. Cause and effect. How the event stopped you paying by the due date, and that you would otherwise have paid on time (para 14).
4. What you did about it. Steps to lessen the problem, such as selling assets or seeking finance (para 18), contacting the ATO early, setting up a payment plan, and paying once the problem passed.
5. Your history. Your lodgement and payment record over recent years. The ATO says it looks more favourably on a late payment that is out of pattern with an otherwise on-time record.
6. Why remission is fair. Whether ordinary taxpayers who pay on time would see it as fair and reasonable (paras 21–22).

What evidence does the ATO want?

The ATO's examples of evidence include medical certificates, letters from tax professionals, financial statements, police reports, court orders and outcomes, and letters from banks. It also has access to its own records, including your lodgement and payment history and assets such as real property, vehicles, boats and shares, and may use them in deciding (ATO, July 2026). If you held assets you could have sold, explain why you didn't.

How should you set out a GIC remission letter?

If you send a covering letter or submission with the form, keep it short. Name the s 8AAG ground you rely on and the remission you want at the start, then follow the order of the six points above, and finish with a list of the evidence attached.

For example, suppose a café owner spent six weeks in hospital and a BAS went unpaid. A strong letter gives the hospital dates, shows no one else could pay, notes the owner contacted the ATO soon after and paid within two months, and points to years of on-time payments. (Illustrative only.)

What makes the ATO more or less likely to remit?

The ATO's published examples (ATO, "Examples of GIC remission requests", last updated 22 January 2026) say it is likely to accept requests involving the events in the first row of the table above, and also sudden ill health of your tax or BAS agent where other arrangements weren't practical, theft of or damage to property critical to the business, financial abuse, and bereavement of a family member. The ATO stresses that each case is decided on its own merits.

It is likely to decline requests based on adverse business or economic conditions, currency movements, customers paying invoices late, using money to expand the business, not giving your tax or BAS agent enough time, or being on holiday when payment was due.

Common mistakes in remission requests

1. Relying on cash flow alone. General business or economic conditions, extending credit to customers, or paying other creditors first will not usually justify remission (PS LA 2011/12, paras 16–17).
2. No link to the late payment. In one ATO example, a director's illness didn't help because the company kept trading and paying its bills.
3. Ignoring a poor history. If you have paid late before, explain why, or the ATO may conclude you would have paid late anyway.
4. Not acting once things improved. The law looks at the reasonable action you took to mitigate (s 8AAG(3)(b), (4)(b)), and the ATO checks how quickly you paid once the problem passed.
5. Wrong form or thin evidence. Both slow the decision.

Should you pay first or ask for remission first?

You don't have to pay first: a request can be made at any time (para 8). But keep in mind:

• Interest keeps running. A payment plan doesn't change the date the debt was due, so GIC keeps accruing on the unpaid balance (TAA Sch 1 s 255-15(2) and note). See does the ATO charge interest on payment plans?
• A deferral is different. If the ATO defers the due date by written notice, GIC generally runs only from the deferred date (Sch 1 s 255-10(1)–(2) and note). Ask for a deferral before the payment is due.
• Timing counts as mitigation. In the ATO's examples, a business hit by a major client's collapse contacted the ATO before the due date, kept to a three-month plan and then asked: its GIC was remitted. A taxpayer who chose to reinvest sale proceeds instead of paying, and could have paid sooner than her 18-month plan, was refused.
• Remission is worth more now. GIC and SIC incurred in income years starting on or after 1 July 2025 can't be deducted (Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 s 26-5(1A)). Remitted interest that was deductible in an earlier year is generally assessable in the year it is remitted (PS LA 2011/12, paras 73–75). See ATO interest is no longer tax deductible.
• A DPN comes first. If the debt has led to a director penalty notice, its 21-day deadline takes priority. The 21 days run from when the ATO posts or leaves the notice, not when you read it (TAA Sch 1 s 269-25(4)).

Asking for SIC or penalty remission

SIC arises when an amended assessment increases your tax, and the ATO can remit it where it considers that fair and reasonable (TAA Sch 1 s 280-160). In an audit, the ATO makes a remission decision whether or not you ask, except in fully automated data-matching cases (PS LA 2006/8, para 11). If a remission decision was made during the audit, the ATO says you need to write to it asking for a review of that decision (PS LA 2006/8, para 15).

The ATO takes SIC requests by phone only in a few cases, such as where it took longer than its service standard to issue the amended assessment. Otherwise, ask in writing on the SIC form. If you ask in the approved form, a refusal must come with written reasons (Sch 1 s 280-165). The ATO doesn't say whether its SIC remission form is the approved form for that purpose, so the safer course is to use that form. Either way, the ATO says it generally gives written reasons even for a request not in the approved form (PS LA 2006/8 para 127). See shortfall interest charge and how to get it remitted.

Failure to lodge penalties use the same channels and a separate form. See late lodgement penalties.

What happens after you ask?

The ATO may ask for more evidence. If it declines, the ATO says it will write to you explaining why and what review rights you have.

• GIC. There is no objection right. You can make a new request if you left out key information or think the ATO made an error, or in some cases seek judicial review in the Federal Court under the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977, generally within 28 days after you are given the written decision, or after the reasons are given if they come separately, although the Court can allow more time (ADJR Act s 11(1)(c) and (3)). A new request doesn't stop that time running.
• SIC. You can object if the amount not remitted is more than 20% of the additional tax (Sch 1 s 280-170), generally within 60 days after notice of the decision is served on you (TAA s 14ZW(1)(c)). Where it is 20% or less, the ATO says you can ask it to review the decision.

Late objections, the Administrative Review Tribunal and Federal Court appeals are covered in interest remission refused: what you can do next.

Checklist before you send a request

• ATO statement of account showing the interest by account and period
• The current remission form (Excel for GIC)
• The s 8AAG ground you rely on, and a dated timeline showing how the event caused the late payment and what you did
• Your lodgement and payment history, and supporting documents
• A payment plan or deferral if the debt is still unpaid
• A copy of what you sent, and when and how

How we help

• Assess. We review the debt, the timeline and your history, and tell you which ground, if any, is realistic.
• Prepare and lodge. We draft the request against s 8AAG and PS LA 2011/12 (or s 280-160 for SIC) and lodge it by post or phone, or with your tax agent through Online services for agents.
• Work with your accountant. Accountants can refer clients to us and stay involved. See for accountants.

Next step

Send us the ATO statement of account showing the interest (or the amended assessment and SIC notice), a short dated note of what caused the late payment and what you did about it, and any evidence you already have. If you have already asked and been refused, include the ATO's letter and the date you received it. In a first call we'll tell you which ground is realistic and how the request should be lodged.