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Debts on hold

What debts on hold are and how we offset credits and refunds against them.

Last updated 16 March 2025

What is a debt on hold

A debt on hold is a tax debt we have paused taking actions to collect. We may place a debt on hold if we decide it's not cost effective to collect the debt at the time. 

While the debt is on hold: 

  • it may not appear in your account balance
  • we won't contact you to try and collect it (however your debt remains due and legally payable)  
  • we will use any credits or refunds you're entitled to, to reduce the debt – this is called offsetting. 

You may have a debt on hold that is not currently included in your account – even if your current account balance is zero. You can check if you have a debt on hold, including when it was placed on hold.

If your situation changes and we believe it's cost effective to collect your debt on hold, we may take it off hold. This means we will contact you to pay the debt. 

Reducing or paying your debt on hold 

When a debt is on hold, it may be reduced by offsetting your credits and refunds against it, or if you make a payment. 

Offsetting credits or refunds 

When debts are on hold, we won't contact you to pay your debt, but we'll use any credits or refunds you have, to reduce it. This is called offsetting and it's required by law. 

In some cases, we'll use your credit or refund from one account to offset your debt on hold from another account. For example, if you're a business, your GST credit may be used to offset your income tax debt on hold. 

You can follow these instructions to view your debt on hold transactions, including if it has been offset.

Example: offsetting a tax refund against a debt on hold

In September 2019, Deven lodged a tax return for the 2018–19 financial year, which resulted in a tax debt of $500. 

In 2021 we placed the debt on hold as it wasn't cost effective to collect the debt at that time. 

In October 2023, Deven lodged tax returns for the 2019–20 to 2022–23 financial years. This resulted in a $1,300 credit. 

We offset the $1,300 credit against the $500 debt on hold. This resulted in a tax refund of $800 to Deven and the $500 debt on hold being paid off. 

Deven can see that his debt has been offset on his statement of account and in ATO online services. 

End of example

There are also proposed law changes to tax debts placed on hold before 1 January 2017 which will give us discretion not to offset.

Paying your debt on hold 

We won't contact you to try and collect your debt while it's on hold, but your debt remains due and legally payable. General interest charge (GIC) will apply to your debt, however we may remit any GIC that accrued during the time that your debt on hold was not included in your account balance.

You can pay part or all of your debt on hold at any time.  

To start making payments towards your debt and have it included in your account balance, contact us. You can also ask us about payment options like payment plans.

View your debt on hold transactions

If we've placed your debt on hold you can follow these instructions to:

  • find out when your debt was placed on hold
  • if offsetting has occurred.

We have instructions for:

If you need further information about your debt on hold you can contact us.

Individuals and sole traders

Follow these steps:

  1. Visit ATO online services.
  2. Select the Tax drop-down menu.
  3. Select Accounts.
  4. Select Summary.
  5. Choose the account you want to view.
  6. Select the Filter drop-down.
  7. Update the from date to '01/01/2000' to show everything on your account.
  8. Select Order date by to sort from Oldest to Newest.
  9. Select Filter to sort and view transactions
  10. Scroll through the account onscreen or download a CSV (Excel) file.
    • To view the original debt on hold, search ‘non-pursuit’.
    • To view when a debt has been included in an account balance or offset, search for
      • 're-raise of non-pursuit'
      • 'partial re-raise of non-pursuit'
      • 'Existing debt on hold included in account balance'.
  11. The balance of your debt on hold is the original debt on hold amount minus any re-raises or amounts that have been included in the account.

Registered tax professionals

Follow these steps:

  1. Visit Online services for agents.
  2. Select View client list (or Favourite clients if you have added the client to your Favourites list).
  3. Select a client.
  4. Select the Accounts and payments drop-down menu.
  5. Select Accounts Summary.
  6. Choose the account you want to view.
  7. Select the Filter drop-down.
  8. Update the from date to '01/01/2000' to show everything on the account.
  9. Select Order date by to sort from Oldest to Newest.
  10. Select Filter to sort and view transactions.
  11. Scroll through the account onscreen or download a CSV (Excel) file.
    • To view the original debt on hold, search ‘non-pursuit’.
    • To view when a debt has been included in your account balance or offset, search for
      • 're-raise of non-pursuit'
      • 'partial re-raise of non-pursuit'
      • 'Existing debt on hold included in account balance'.
  12. The balance of your debt on hold is the original debt on hold amount minus any re-raises or amounts that have been included in the account.

Businesses

Follow these steps:

  1. Visit Businesses and organisations online services.
  2. Select the Accounts and payments drop-down menu.
  3. Select Account Summary.
  4. Choose the account you want to view.
  5. Select the Filter drop-down.
  6. Update the from date to '01/01/2000' to show everything on your account.
  7. Select Order date by to sort from Oldest to Newest.
  8. Select Filter to sort and view transactions.
  9. Scroll through the account onscreen or download a CSV (Excel) file.
    • To view the original debt on hold, search ‘non-pursuit’.
    • To view when a debt has been included in your account balance or offset, search for
      • 're-raise of non-pursuit'
      • 'partial re-raise of non-pursuit'
      • 'Existing debt on hold included in account balance'.
  10. The balance of your debt on hold is the original debt on hold amount minus any re-raises or amounts that have been included in the account.

Support

If you're experiencing financial difficulties and need support, see:

If you need help, or have questions about your debt on hold, contact your registered tax professional or contact us.

You may also:

Disagree with a debt on hold

You can't object to our decision to place your debt on hold or take it off hold.

You can object to the relevant assessment or amended assessment that raised the debt if you believe it was incorrectly calculated. To do this you will need to lodge an objection. 

Debts placed on hold before 1 January 2017

Proposed law change to give discretion not to offset some debts on hold.

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