Latest / The Front / Credit card fury as Tax Office brings in tough new rule

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Credit card fury as Tax Office brings in tough new rule · The Front

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Today's biggest news from the Australian. I'm Claire Harvey with
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  Speaker 1: the Front's afternoon headlines. The Australian Tax Office has declared
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  Speaker 1: it'll no longer accept payments made with credit cards, effective
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  Speaker 1: November 30. That leaves some businesses declaring they've been blindsided.
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  Speaker 1: It all stems from a decision by the Reserve Bank
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  Speaker 1: that bans the practice of passing card processing fees on
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  Speaker 1: to customers. That comes into effect today. You'll be familiar
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  Speaker 1: with this from menus and signs in shop windows warning
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  Speaker 1: there's a surcharge for using your card. That's not allowed
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  Speaker 1: anymore as of today. There are reports some businesses are
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  Speaker 1: banning card payments altogether, asking customers to use cash or
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  Speaker 1: pay ID instead. The new rule about card fees also
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  Speaker 1: applies to the tax office, and a small number of taxpayers,
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  Speaker 1: including businesses, presently use credit cards to pay their tax bill.
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  Speaker 1: Until now, the tax office has passed on the processing
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  Speaker 1: fee to that individual or corporate taxpayer. Now, the ATO
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  Speaker 1: says it wouldn't be right to use public funds for
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  Speaker 1: the processing fee, so it's going to ban credit card
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  Speaker 1: payments altogether. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry says
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  Speaker 1: there was no consultation and the new policy will be
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  Speaker 1: yet another blow for businesses already struggling with interest rate
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  Speaker 1: hikes and inflation. They also say small businesses are already
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  Speaker 1: bearing the brunt of the new ban on surcharges, having
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  Speaker 1: to reprint their menus and adjust their cash registers and terminals.
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  Speaker 1: The tax office says fewer than 2.5% of payments are
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  Speaker 1: presently made on credit cards, and only 40% of those
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  Speaker 1: are small businesses. The ATO says it will still accept
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  Speaker 1: debit card payments. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has opened
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: the door to a second Brexit referendum. But Burnham said
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  Speaker 1: he'd be guided by public opinion before he commits Labor
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  Speaker 1: or the British public to a vote. Recent polling suggests
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  Speaker 1: almost 60% of Britons are in favour of rejoining the
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  Speaker 1: European Union, while 32% were against it and 9% undecided.
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  Speaker 1: Britain formally exited the EU in 2020, ending rules that
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  Speaker 1: allowed British citizens to move freely between member countries and
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  Speaker 1: altering trade rules. The coach who led the Brisbane Lions
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  Speaker 1: to an historic AFL grand final three-peat will leave the
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  Speaker 1: club with one year left on his contract. Chris Fagan
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  Speaker 1: transformed the Lions from AFL wooden spooners to three-time champions,
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  Speaker 1: culminating in the team's victory over Collingwood on the weekend.
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  Speaker 1: The club is expected to look within its own ranks
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  Speaker 1: and consider candidates from across the country to find his replacement.
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  Speaker 1: Check out those stories live right now at theaustralian.com.au. And
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: come back to the front first thing in the morning
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: for our look at the alleged attempt to hijack a
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: plane and an apparent terror plot against a military base.
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  Speaker 1: That's right here, Friday morning.