An ATO tax debt loan is finance used to pay out a balance owed to the Australian Taxation Office so the debt sits with a lender instead of the ATO. From 1 July 2025 the ATO's general interest charge and shortfall interest charge are no longer deductible, so the cost of leaving a tax debt where it is stopped being softened at tax time. That change is what moved the arithmetic for a lot of borrowers. NIK Finance compares 130+ lenders, charges a $0 broker fee, and will tell you plainly when borrowing makes your position worse rather than better.
For years, the general interest charge (GIC) and shortfall interest charge (SIC) that the ATO applies to unpaid tax were deductible, which meant part of the cost came back at tax time. That ended. The ATO states that taxpayers can no longer claim an income tax deduction for ATO interest charges incurred on or after 1 July 2025. Nothing about the rate changed. What changed is that you now carry the full weight of it. If you were mentally discounting the ATO’s interest because you got some of it back, stop doing that. The comparison you are actually making now is the ATO’s full, undiscounted charge against the full cost of a loan, and for a lot of people that comparison flipped.
| Timing of the ATO interest charge | Deductible? | If the ATO later remits it |
|---|---|---|
| Incurred before 1 July 2025 | Was deductible under the old rules | The remitted amount is included in your assessable income in the year the remission happens |
| Incurred on or after 1 July 2025 | No deduction available | A later remission does not need to be included as assessable income |
| Entity with a substituted accounting period | Deduction ends from the next accounting period starting after 1 July 2025 | Follows the same logic, timed to the substituted period |
Two numbers you will not find on this page, deliberately. We do not publish the GIC rate, because the ATO resets it every quarter and a stale rate on a broker website is worse than no rate. And we do not tell you whether interest on money you borrow to pay an ATO debt is deductible, because deductibility depends on the purpose of the borrowing and that is a question for your accountant, not your broker. NIK Finance arranges credit. We do not give tax advice.
An ATO payment plan is not a bad product. It is often the right first move, particularly for a smaller balance where you can see the end of it. The problem is what a live payment plan does to everything else you want to borrow. A credit assessor reads an ATO arrangement as evidence that the business or the individual could not meet a statutory obligation from cash flow, and many mainstream policies either decline outright or require the plan to be paid out at settlement. So the plan solves the ATO problem and creates a lending problem. Whether that trade is worth it depends entirely on whether you need to borrow for anything else in the next couple of years.
| Option | How it works | What it does to mainstream lending | Sensible when |
|---|---|---|---|
| ATO payment plan | Instalments agreed directly with the ATO, interest continues to accrue on the balance | Usually a barrier. Often must be cleared before or at settlement of a home loan | The balance is modest, you have no near term borrowing plans, and cash flow is genuinely recovering |
| Refinance into a mainstream or secured facility | Equity release, a business facility or a personal loan clears the ATO in full | Clean. The ATO balance disappears from the picture entirely | You have equity or serviceability, and lodgements are up to date |
| Specialist or non bank lender | Prices the tax debt rather than declining it, often with a shorter term | Neutral to negative. Exiting to a bank later is the plan | Bank policy says no today but the file is repairable inside a year or two |
| Private or caveat funding | Short term, secured against property, expensive | Reads as distress on a future file unless it was clearly a bridge | Only against a defined exit, and usually only for business purpose debt |
| Do nothing | Balance grows with a charge you can no longer deduct | Deteriorates. Disclosure and firmer action risk increases | Only where the balance is small and clearing it within the current arrangement is realistic |
People assume a tax debt is invisible to lenders. For business debts, that is not reliably true. The ATO can report a business tax debt to credit reporting bureaus, and once it lands on a commercial credit file it is visible to lenders, trade creditors and suppliers running a credit check. The mechanism is defined and it comes with a warning shot, so this is a situation you can usually get in front of if you act on the notice.
The ATO can disclose where the business has an ABN, is not an excluded entity, has at least $100,000 in tax debt overdue by more than 90 days, is not effectively engaging with the ATO to manage that debt, and has no active Tax Ombudsman complaint about the intended disclosure.
The ATO issues a written notice of intent to disclose. From receiving that notice you have 28 days to act.
Paying in full, entering and sticking to a payment plan, lodging an objection or otherwise effectively engaging can stop the disclosure. Cash flow difficulty on its own is generally not treated as exceptional circumstances.
Once disclosed, the debt sits on a commercial credit file and shapes pricing and appetite well beyond the lender you are currently talking to.
If you are a company director, the director penalty regime can make you personally liable for the company’s unpaid PAYG withholding, GST and super guarantee charge. That is a personal balance sheet event, not just a company one, and it changes what you personally can borrow.
The $100,000 and 90 day figures above are the ATO’s published disclosure criteria and are cited in Sources. Treat them as a review-dated figure and re-check before each content refresh.
There is no single "lender view" of tax debt. There are three views, and knowing which one you are in front of saves you weeks. Mainstream credit teams treat an ATO debt as both a serviceability problem and a character problem, because tax is a statutory obligation and failing it reads as a signal about everything else. Specialist lenders treat it as a priced risk. Private lenders treat it as an asset question and barely look at you at all.
Want the ATO balance at zero, lodgements current, and no live payment plan. Some will fund the payout at settlement. Cheapest money, narrowest gate, longest assessment.
Will fund with a tax debt in the picture and price for it. Expect questions about why the debt arose, whether it is a one off or a pattern, and what has changed in the business since. Usually a stepping stone, not a destination.
Look at security and exit. Fast, expensive, short term, and generally business purpose only. Useful as a bridge to a known event. Dangerous as a substitute for one. If this is already your position, the exit is at refinancing a private lender.
Speed costs money in this market, and the cost is real. If you have four weeks, use them. If you have four days because a garnishee or enforcement step is imminent, that is a different conversation and you should ring us rather than fill in a form.
Tax debt files are document heavy because the lender is not just asking "can you repay this", they are asking "is the thing that caused this fixed". You will move faster if you gather these before the first call rather than after.
Here is the part most brokers leave out. Clearing an ATO debt with expensive private money only works if you can name the event that repays the private lender and put a date on it. A property settling, a receivable landing, a refinance that a bank has already indicated on. If you cannot name the exit, private funding does not solve the problem, it changes who is chasing you and raises the price. We will say so. If you are an accountant or bookkeeper raising this with clients, our partner program pays on referred settlements.
Yes, lenders do fund ATO payouts, though no broker can promise approval. Options run from unsecured personal loans through secured business facilities to specialist lending. The assessment turns on your capacity to repay, why the debt arose, and whether your lodgements are current. NIK Finance compares 130+ lenders across those categories.
No. The ATO confirms that general interest charge and shortfall interest charge incurred on or after 1 July 2025 can no longer be claimed as an income tax deduction. Charges incurred before that date followed the old rules. This is general information only, so confirm your own position with your accountant.
Often, yes. Many mainstream lenders treat a live ATO payment plan as evidence that a statutory obligation could not be met from cash flow, and will either decline or require the balance cleared at settlement. Specialist lenders are more flexible. Policy varies widely between lenders, which is exactly where a broker earns their keep.
Business tax debts can be disclosed. The ATO's published criteria include holding an ABN, being outside the excluded entity categories, having at least $100,000 overdue by more than 90 days, and not effectively engaging with the ATO. You receive a written notice first and have 28 days to act.
We will not answer that, and you should be wary of any broker who does. Deductibility depends on the purpose of the borrowing and the circumstances of the taxpayer. It is a question for your accountant or a registered tax agent. NIK Finance arranges credit and does not provide tax advice.
Nothing. There is no broker fee on any NIK Finance application. Lenders pay us a commission when a loan settles, and we disclose that in writing before you proceed. You can also run a free Kreddi Score first to see where you sit before any application touches your credit file.
See your borrowing position across five financial health measures before a lender ever runs a credit check.
Working capital and term funding where the tax debt is a business balance rather than a personal one.
How lenders assess ABN income, and what a cleared tax debt does to your file.
If short term private money was already used to clear the ATO, this is the exit.
Run a free Kreddi Score to see your borrowing position across credit health, debt efficiency, asset strength, cash flow and borrowing power, with no impact on your credit file. Or ring 1300 304 381 and talk to someone who has done this before.
Sources
Last reviewed 15 August 2026
NIK Finance Pty Ltd (ACN 685 393 917) is a Credit Representative (567387) of Finsure Finance & Insurance Pty Ltd (Australian Credit Licence 384704). This page is general information only and does not constitute financial advice. Consider your personal circumstances and speak with a licensed broker before applying for credit.