I’m sure the ‘employment assessors’ at the ATO are members of the Flat Earth Society. Yes, a ‘flat-earthers’ group actually exists. It was formed in 1956. Its members are not comedians but serious. Here’s their logo and website. Go figure!
The ATO flat-earthers are the high priest enforcers of the ATO’s flat earth bible: its ‘employee-contractor decision tool’. Have a look at its ‘terrible friendly’ video saying how the ATO will help you. But everything on the video and in the decision tool is wrong at law and promotes a dangerous ATO-manufactured myth. In fact, the very decision-tool itself is an instrument of illegality. And it’s not there to help you but oppress you!
In 1600, during the Great Inquisition, the Italian Dominican friar, Bruno Giordano, was persecuted for claiming the the earth was round and the stars merely suns like our own. Today, the ATO is financially persecuting ordinary people for being self-employed. The ATO does this by applying the illegal ‘decision-tool’, ‘deciding’ people are employees, taking away their Australian Business Numbers—thereby destroying their businesses and incomes.
I’ve had a gutful! When small businesswomen break down on the phone with me because the ATO has done this to them, I say, ‘no more Mr Nice Guy!’ When women who were financially proud are now on social security, I say ‘NO More!’
We’ve been on about this since at least 2013. In 2014 we made a submission on this to the Board of Taxation Review of the ATO. The Board’s 2015 recommendations to fix the decision tool have been ignored by the ATO. Some time after this, I had a yelling match with the Tax Commissioner in front of a Federal Minister over the issue, with me saying there was a problem and the Commissioner saying there wasn’t.
But now we’re handling the fallout from the ATO’s conducting mass ABN withdrawals, mostly against work-from-home mums on very modest incomes. We’re helping these people fight the ATO. The ATO is playing with people’s lives, burning them. More specific information will be forthcoming.
The ATO’s decision-making ‘flat earth’ tool must be abolished. Our campaign begins and will continue long term.