ATO to keep taking credit cards until 30 June 2027

ATO to keep taking credit cards until 30 June 2027

9 October 2026: Australian businesses that pay the tax office by credit card will be able to keep doing so until 30 June 2027. The Treasurer, the Small Business Minister and the Assistant Treasurer said the government will provide transitional funding, with the cost to be finalised in the mid-year economic and fiscal outlook.

Not yet independently verified. The funding amount is not stated, and the figure of about $200 million a year in card fees comes from SmartCompany; the ATO's own releases do not give it. We will update this when it can be confirmed, and remove this note.

The ATO announced on 1 October that it would stop accepting credit cards after 30 November, following the Reserve Bank's review of card payment costs and surcharging, because it did not think it appropriate to pass merchant fees on to the community. SmartCompany puts those fees at about $200 million a year. The ministers' release says the ATO asked card companies for lower fees but none offered rates low enough for it to carry on. It also says small businesses told the government the two months of notice was not enough.

Credit cards are a small share of what the office collects. The ATO puts them at about 2.3 per cent of tax payments in 2024 to 2025, with more than 60 per cent of card payments made by privately owned and wealthy groups and by public and multinational businesses, and the ministers' release says that in 2024 to 2025 just over 2 per cent of individuals and around 5 per cent of small businesses paid this way.

The extra months are meant for the ATO to speak with small businesses and others who rely on cards, give them fuller information and consult on targeted support. The government has also asked the ATO to consult on help for people in financial hardship and on alternative arrangements for those who cannot pay by other means. The ATO will keep talking to card companies.

The end state does not change. After 30 June 2027 the release says payments through third parties will continue to work, as will free or low-fee methods such as debit card and bank transfer. The ATO's own notice of 9 October asks anyone weighing a third-party provider to check its fees, charges and processing times, and to verify its credentials before paying.

Finance teams that settle business activity statements and instalments on a card, often to hold cash for longer, now have until the end of the 2026 to 2027 financial year to move to another route. Software that schedules tax payments or reconciles them is worth checking for what it does when the card option disappears. Our payment processing software category lists 15 products.

Sources

• Treasurer, Small Business Minister and Assistant Treasurer: ATO to continue accepting credit cards until 30 June 2027, 9 October 2026
• SmartCompany: ATO credit card ban delayed until July 2027 as government coughs up extra funding, 9 October 2026
• ATO: ATO extends transition period for taxpayers using credit cards until 30 June 2027, 9 October 2026
• ATO: ATO to stop accepting credit cards after 30 November 2026, 1 October 2026