The tax office is chasing more than $34 billion worth of debts owed by small businesses and self-employed Australians that were put on hold during COVID, and sometimes using aggressive enforcement action to collect the money, which experts say is sending some businesses to the wall.
Some experts are predicting that the rate of insolvencies could this year track its highest levels seen since just after the global financial crisis.
Many of those people hitting the wall are in sectors already struggling under a slowing economy, including construction, hospitality and retail.
In many cases they also owe money to other creditors but, in some cases, aggressive debt collection action from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is a key factor…
