GIC remission refused: what you can do next

If the ATO has refused to remit interest, your options depend on the charge. Where general interest charge (GIC) remission is refused, there is generally no right to object, but you can make a further request with better evidence, ask for reconsideration, complain to the Tax Ombudsman, or seek judicial review in the Federal Court. Where shortfall interest charge (SIC) remission is refused, you can object if the SIC left unremitted is more than 20% of the extra tax.

Some options have short time limits, so check the decision date first. For how remission works, see GIC remission.

Which decision do you have?

References are to the Taxation Administration Act 1953 (TAA), including Schedule 1.

	GIC	SIC	Penalties
What it is	Interest on late payments, and on audit shortfalls in most taxes other than income tax, such as GST	Interest on extra income tax (and a few other taxes) up to the date of an amended assessment	Administrative penalties, such as failure to lodge on time
Remission power	s 8AAG	Sch 1 s 280-160	Sch 1 s 298-20
Can you object?	No	Yes, if the SIC not remitted is more than 20% of the additional tax (Sch 1 s 280-170)	Yes, if the penalty left is more than 2 penalty units (Sch 1 s 298-20(3))
Time to object	Not applicable	Generally 60 days after notice of the decision (s 14ZW(1)(c))	Generally 60 days after notice of the decision (s 14ZW(1)(c))

One letter can cover more than one, so check what was refused and under which provision. GST and most other audit shortfalls outside income tax attract GIC, not SIC (PS LA 2006/8, the ATO's SIC practice statement, para 22), so the SIC objection right generally won't help. For penalties, see ATO penalties and penalty remission.

Can you object to a refusal to remit SIC?

Yes, if enough SIC is left unremitted. You can object under Part IVC of the TAA against a decision not to remit SIC on additional income tax (and a few other taxes) if the SIC not remitted is more than 20% of the additional amount (Sch 1 s 280-170).

For example, suppose an amended assessment adds $50,000 of tax and $12,000 of SIC. If the ATO remits none of it, the $12,000 is 24% of the extra tax, so you can object. If it remits $3,000 and leaves $9,000, that is 18%, so you can't.

PS LA 2006/8 applies the same test (paras 129 and 131–132) and says the objection right is in addition to review under the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977 (ADJR Act), not instead of it (para 130). If you can't object, the GIC options below, including informal review, still apply.

For a SIC objection:

• Get the reasons. If you asked for remission in the approved form, the ATO must give written reasons for refusing (Sch 1 s 280-165), and it generally gives them even if you didn't (PS LA 2006/8 para 127).
• Watch the 60 days. The objection is generally due within 60 days after notice of the decision is served on you (s 14ZW(1)(c)). A late objection needs a request explaining the delay fully and in detail (s 14ZW(2)–(3)). A refusal of that request can go to the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) (s 14ZX).
• State your grounds fully. The objection must be in the approved form and state the grounds fully and in detail (s 14ZU). Grounds usually go to whether remission is fair and reasonable, including whether the circumstances justify the Commonwealth bearing some or all of the cost of the delayed payment (Sch 1 s 280-160(2)(b)). Arguing only that the SIC exceeded your benefit from having the money won't be enough (s 280-160(2)(a)).
• Use the ATO's own guidance. PS LA 2006/8 contemplates remission to the base rate for the period of delay where an audit started unreasonably late (para 27) or ran past its expected completion date without a real change in scope, unless the taxpayer unreasonably caused the delay (paras 29–30). Generally, where a case sat untouched for 30 days or more when it could have progressed, SIC should be remitted for the days beyond 30 (paras 39–40).

What happens after you object?

The ATO must decide the objection and give you written notice (s 14ZY). If it hasn't decided within 60 days of lodgement (or of receiving information it asked for in writing in that time), you can require a decision by written notice, and if none is made within a further 60 days the objection is treated as disallowed (s 14ZYA).

If the objection is disallowed, you can apply to the ART or appeal to the Federal Court, generally within 60 days after notice of the objection decision is served on you (ss 14ZZ, 14ZZC and 14ZZN). The ART can extend that time if reasonable in all the circumstances, but don't rely on it (Administrative Review Tribunal Act 2024 (ART Act) s 19). The ART can exercise the remission discretion itself and substitute its own decision (ART Act ss 54 and 105).

See how ATO objections work, ART review and Federal Court appeals and how SIC remission works.

What can you do if GIC remission is refused?

You generally can't object, but other options are open. The TAA gives no right to object against a decision under s 8AAG, and PS LA 2006/8 says there are no objection rights under the taxation law against a GIC remission decision (para 141). The separate GIC remission powers for PAYG instalments (Sch 1 ss 45-240 and 45-640) don't carry objection rights either.

These four options can be combined, in an order that depends on the ATO's reasons and the deadlines.

1. Make a further request

A remission request can be made at any time, and the onus is generally on you to give the ATO enough information to decide it (PS LA 2011/12, the ATO's GIC practice statement, para 8). A further request is decided afresh, not as an appeal, so it only helps if it adds something: new evidence, a ground the first request missed, or a direct answer to the reasons for refusal.

2. Ask for reconsideration

The TAA has no internal review process for GIC decisions, but you can ask the ATO to look again, ideally through a different or more senior officer. For SIC and GIC on audit shortfalls, PS LA 2006/8 says a taxpayer with no objection rights may request an informal review (para 15 and footnote 4). This suits a decision that missed a key document or argument.

Under PS LA 2011/12, remission on the broad ground that it is "otherwise appropriate" (s 8AAG(5)(b)) is restricted to senior tax officers (para 29). If that ground matters, ask for the request to go to an officer who can decide it.

3. Complain to the Tax Ombudsman

The Inspector-General of Taxation and Taxation Ombudsman (IGTO) is independent of the ATO and investigates complaints about its actions. A complaint can help where the problem is the process: long delays, a request never properly considered, or reasons that don't engage with what you sent. The IGTO can't remit the interest, but it can make recommendations to the ATO.

4. Judicial review in the Federal Court

A s 8AAG decision can be reviewed under the ADJR Act (PS LA 2006/8 para 141), or under section 39B of the Judiciary Act 1903. Judicial review asks whether the decision was lawfully made (for example, whether the decision-maker misread s 8AAG, ignored a central argument or denied you a fair hearing), not whether it was right.

In Hyder v Commissioner of Taxation [2024] FCA 464, a refusal to remit GIC was set aside because the central issue raised in the request was "neither considered nor addressed" (at [109]). The Court didn't remit the interest itself, but sent the request back to a different decision-maker (at [111]). On reconsideration the ATO remitted part of the GIC, but the taxpayer's ADJR challenge to a later refusal to remit more failed at first instance and on appeal, largely on when its tax return had been due (EMH IV Pty Ltd as trustee for the EMH IV Family Trust v Commissioner of Taxation [2026] FCAFC 112 at [1]–[2], [8], [93]).

An ADJR application generally has to be lodged 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)). To be safe, count the 28 days from the date on the decision letter, not the day it reached you. Court proceedings also carry a costs risk if you lose. See how our fees work.

What makes a second request stronger?

A further request that repeats the first will usually get the same answer. Start from the ATO's reasons and fill the gap.

1. Find the missing element. For GIC on a late payment, work out which ground in s 8AAG(3), (4) or (5) the ATO considered and what it found missing: that the cause was outside your control, that you took reasonable action to mitigate, or that remission would be fair and reasonable.
2. Show cause and effect. For circumstances outside your control, show how the event affected your ability to pay and that you would otherwise have paid on time (PS LA 2011/12 para 14). Medical evidence, insurance claims, reports on a failed major debtor and bank correspondence can all help.
3. Prove mitigation. Set out what you did to reduce the problem, such as selling assets or seeking finance (para 18), paying what you could or entering a payment arrangement, with documents and dates.
4. Address fairness. Would ordinary taxpayers who pay on time see remission as fair (paras 21–22)? A good payment record with an isolated late payment is the ATO's own example of special circumstances (para 27).
5. Ask for partial remission in the alternative. The ATO can remit part of the GIC and should consider doing so where full remission isn't warranted (para 10). A defined period, such as the months of a serious illness, is often easier to justify.
6. Deal with the weak points. General economic conditions, extending credit to customers, or using available funds to pay other creditors or buy assets usually won't justify remission (paras 16–17). If those are part of the story, explain what else was going on.

See how to ask the ATO to remit interest for how we structure a request.

Is the real problem the tax itself?

If you dispute the underlying assessment, the main route is an objection against it, which has its own time limit (see how ATO objections work). If the tax is reduced, the interest on the reduced amount generally goes with it.

While that dispute runs, the ATO may offer a 50:50 arrangement. Broadly, if you pay all undisputed debts and at least half of the disputed tax, it remits half of the GIC on the remaining disputed balance, subject to other conditions (PS LA 2011/12 para 35).

Does interest keep running?

Yes. GIC accrues and compounds daily on unpaid amounts while you challenge the decision (TAA ss 8AAC and 8AAE), so paying what you can limits further interest.

GIC and SIC incurred in income years starting on or after 1 July 2025 also can't be deducted (Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 s 26-5(1A); PS LA 2011/12 paras 60–61). See ATO interest is no longer tax deductible.

Next step

Send us the ATO's refusal letter and reasons, your original request and everything sent with it, the ATO statement of account (or, for SIC, the amended assessment and SIC notice), and the date you received the decision. In a first call we'll tell you which options are still open, how long you have, and whether a further request or formal challenge is worth pursuing. If your accountant prepared the first request, we work alongside them.