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Complain about your Tax Ombudsman investigation

If you are unsatisfied with how your investigation with us is being processed or are unsatisfied with the result, you can complain to our agency about it. The steps below will walk you through the process 

Request a reconsideration

  • Your first point of contact is the investigations officer handling your case. You should feel confident to raise your questions and seek further information around the investigation.  
  • If you have new information that was not previously provided to the original IGTO officer which would likely have changed their original decision, you may request a reconsideration by the officer. 

Request for an internal review

  • You may request an internal review of our investigation findings if you are dissatisfied with our reconsideration, or, if there is no new information to support a reconsideration and you do not agree with the original investigation findings. 
  • Importantly, an internal review is not a re-investigation of your dispute. An internal review will assess whether the processes adopted by the investigations officer were fair and reasonable. 
  • You must clearly explain your reasons for seeking an internal review. Specifically, you must explain why the investigation findings are factually incomplete, and/or why the investigation process was incorrect. Further details are outlined below. 

Complain about our service or conduct

  • If you are not satisfied with our service or conduct (including the professional conduct or behaviour of IGTO officers), you can raise your concerns by speaking to the officer handling your matter. We are always looking for opportunities to improve our service to the community. 
  • If you cannot resolve your concerns with the relevant officer or feel that you are unable to speak to them, you can make a complaint about our service or conduct 

How to request a reconsideration

You may seek a reconsideration where you are not satisfied with our original investigation findings, and you have new information that was not previously provided to the original IGTO officer which, if it had been provided, would likely have changed their original decision. 

You should provide this new information to the original IGTO officer and request their reconsideration of the investigation. 

If we agree to reconsider your dispute, the reconsideration is undertaken by the IGTO officer. This provides the officer with the opportunity to review the original findings in light of the new available information. This approach reduces duplication of process and leads to faster resolution for you. 

Reconsideration will result in one of two outcomes: 

  • new investigation findings are reached having regard to the new information; or 
  • the original investigation findings are affirmed. 

How to request for an internal review

You may request an internal review of our investigation findings if you are dissatisfied with our reconsideration, or, if there is no new information to support a reconsideration and you do not agree with the original investigation findings. If you have additional relevant information that you have not previously provided to the original IGTO officer, then you must do so during the reconsideration process outlined above for the reasons noted earlier. 

You are able to submit a written internal review request to [email protected] within 10 days of receiving your investigation findings. Your request must: 

  • state the relevant case reference number 
  • include details of the process that you consider was deficient that you request an internal review on 
  • clearly explain your reasons for seeking an internal review. For example: 
    • if you consider our investigation’s findings of fact are incomplete, you must provide supporting evidence where possible; and/or 
    • if you consider our investigation’s process is incorrect, you must clearly explain why, along with what you consider would be the correct reasoning and how it is supported by the facts in your case. 

If you are not able to submit a request for an internal review within 10 days of receiving your investigation findings, you will need to provide clear reasons for the delay in your request for an internal review. 

If your request for a review is successful, your request will be considered by an investigations officer who was not involved in the original investigation of your dispute. Importantly, a review is not a re-investigation of your dispute. An internal review will assess whether the processes adopted by the investigations officer were fair and reasonable.  

You may only request for an internal review once. 

Outcomes an internal review can lead to are: 

  1. the original investigation findings are affirmed and no further action is required;  
  1. the investigation is re-opened due to the original investigation findings being sufficiently incorrect, uncertain or incomplete; or 
  1. new investigation findings are made and replace the original findings (or an aspect of the findings) without any further investigation. 

How to complain about our service or conduct

The service we provide is based on the Tax Ombudsman service guidelines as outlined on Our commitment to you.  

If you cannot resolve your concerns with the relevant officer or feel that you are unable to speak to them, you can make a complaint about our service or conduct by emailing: [email protected]. However, please note that a complaint about our service and conduct will not change the findings or outcome of our investigation.  

  • If you want to complaint about our service or conduct, you will need to clearly explain:  
  • what happened and when; 
  • who was involved; 
  • why you were unsatisfied with your experience; and 
  • what outcome you are seeking. 

We will assess your complaint in accordance with our commitment to you.  

  • If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint about our service or conduct then you can make a complaint to the Commonwealth Ombudsman. It is important to be aware that complaints made to the Commonwealth Ombudsman about our office are limited to our service, and not our investigation findings concerning the tax administration actions and decisions which are the subject of your dispute.