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Mulino says he and Chalmers knew of ATO card-ban plans in July

Assistant treasurer Daniel Mulino said he and Jim Chalmers knew in July that the Australian Taxation Office was considering a ban on credit card payments for tax bills. The government has funded the ATO to delay the ban until July 2027, after widespread backlash from small businesses.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 3 independent reports from 4 outlets · Article text read from 1 of 3 reportsHow it's made

View timeline · 5 entries
4 outlets2 regionsLatest reporting 3 min read
Coverage: Mostly CenterL 1 · C 3 · R 0

What happened

Key facts

  • The assistant treasurer and Jim Chalmers knew in July that the ATO was considering a credit card payment ban (per aol.co.uk).
  • The government had previously admitted its knowledge of the ATO's plans later than July (per aol.co.uk, The Guardian, ABC Australia).
  • The Reserve Bank announced in March that it would ban merchant fees on credit card transactions from 1 October (per aol.co.uk).
  • Mulino said the ATO was considering three options and that its preference was to ban credit card payments (per aol.co.uk).
  • Mulino said the government insisted on a transition period in July and worked with the ATO to make that possible (per aol.co.uk).
  • Mulino said continuing to accept credit card payments indefinitely would have serious fiscal ramifications for the budget (per aol.co.uk).

The brief

Assistant treasurer Daniel Mulino acknowledged that he and Jim Chalmers knew in July that the Australian Taxation Office was considering a ban on credit card payments for tax bills. The admission places the government’s knowledge more than two months earlier than it had previously acknowledged, according to the account published by aol.co.uk.

The Guardian and ABC Australia headlines also say Labor knew in July about the ATO’s plans; AAP’s headline describes the tax office as having given months-long warning. The government has funded the ATO to postpone the ban until July 2027, following widespread backlash from small businesses, the aol.co.uk account says. The delay applies to credit card payments for tax bills.

The account does not state the funding amount or describe how the arrangement changes the treatment of individual businesses. Mulino told ABC TV’s Insiders that he knew the ATO was weighing three options. He also said the tax office preferred a ban on credit card payments.

The account places this discussion after the Reserve Bank announced in March that it would prohibit merchant fees on credit card transactions from 1 October. It does not give the year for those calendar references. Mulino said the government had insisted on a transition period in July and had worked with the ATO to enable one.

That is his account of the government’s role in arranging the delay. The account does not identify the three options the ATO considered beyond saying that a ban was its preferred choice. Mulino also argued that allowing credit card payments to continue indefinitely would have serious consequences for the federal budget.

The account presents this as the assistant treasurer’s assessment; it does not provide a projected budget cost or other figures to quantify the fiscal effect. The report says Mulino was asked multiple times whether some businesses could face a tax rate above 60%, but it does not include his answer.

It also includes an incomplete quotation attributed to McKellar, saying only, “It cannot be repeated,” without providing context that would clarify what the remark referred to. The account therefore records the question and the fragment but does not establish a tax rate above 60% or explain the quotation.

Why it matters

  • Small businesses objected widely to the proposed ban, and the government-funded delay means the ATO will postpone the tax-bill payment change until July 2027.
  • The ATO’s preference, as Mulino described it, was to ban credit card payments; the government’s stated mechanism was a transition period arranged with the ATO.
  • Mulino said indefinite credit card acceptance would have serious fiscal ramifications for the federal budget, though the account gives no cost estimate.

What to watch next

  • Whether the ATO implements the delayed credit card ban for tax bills by July 2027.
  • Whether the ATO’s other options, beyond its reported preference for a ban, are identified.
  • Whether Mulino’s answer to questions about a tax rate above 60% is reported.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
4 source articles · 4 unique outlets · 3 distinct reports
Outlet political mix: Mostly Center· 1 Left · 3 Center
Where the outlets are based: Europe 50% · Asia 50%
Outlet political mix
Mostly Center
Left
Center
Right
1 outlet
3 outlets
0 outlets
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
4 unique outletsDominant coverage: Europe
Coverage imbalance
  • Coverage is currently concentrated among Center-rated outlets (3 of 4 rated sources); comparatively few Right-rated outlets have published on the event.
How we measure coverage

One source is from a wire service (AP, Reuters, AFP or Bloomberg), whose reporting other outlets often republish.

How outlets' accounts compare

Updat3 does not yet have enough full reports to compare how outlets framed this story.

Timeline

Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.
  1. The Reserve Bank of Australia’s card-payment reforms allowed merchants to surcharge card transactions.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  2. The federal government enacted the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Payment Surcharges) Act.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  3. The RBA introduced limits on excessive payment-card surcharges after reviewing card-payment regulation.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  4. The RBA announced that merchant fees on credit-card transactions would be banned from 1 October 2026.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  5. Daniel Mulino and Jim Chalmers knew the ATO was considering a credit-card payment ban, Mulino said.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3

How we got here

In March 2026, the Reserve Bank of Australia announced that merchant fees on credit card transactions would be banned from 1 October 2026. The current surcharge framework followed the RBA’s 2003 card-payment reforms, which allowed merchants to surcharge card transactions.

In 2016, after reviewing payment-card regulation, the RBA introduced limits on excessive surcharges; the federal government enacted the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Payment Surcharges) Act 2016, with the new rules taking effect on 1 September 2017. The rules applied to payments made to businesses and government entities, including the Australian Taxation Office.

Original sources

2 of 4 articles · Europe · Show all

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