ATO defends system despite refund 'debacle' ABC Online
Tax commissioner Michael D'Ascenzo is defending the Australian Tax Office's (ATO) new IT system, despite delays and non-payment of refunds to thousands of taxpayers.
The ATO's new system was rolled out at the end of January as part of a long-running switchover of computer programs.
Last week 140,000 assessments were sent to taxpayers without refund cheques, and tax agents are reporting long processing delays on returns and problems with refunds.
Computer glitches have forced thousands of taxpayers to wait weeks longer than normal for a refund, with some waiting more than four months.
But Mr D'Ascenzo has told a parliamentary inquiry in Canberra that agents were warned about the delays.
"A lot of the issues associated with people indicating delays were advised to tax agents before Christmas," he said.
"We said, 'look, we have to close the system down. This is not the system not working, this is closing down the system while we convert'.
