Form · Taxation
Objection to an ATO assessment or decision: completion guide and grounds structure
Guide to lodging a Part IVC objection online, on the PDF form (NAT 13044) or by letter, with a model structure for stating the grounds 'fully and in detail', the time limits, and what happens after lodgment.
- Kind
- Form. A form to complete, or a guide to completing an official one.
- Where it applies
- Australia
- AI use
- Yellow AI can help in set ways. A lawyer checks specific points before use.
- Law stated as at
- 17 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked against the cited sources on 17 October 2026.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Link to the official form. Licence: ATO copyright notice: free to copy, adapt and distribute with no implied ATO endorsement. Approved form: link only; always use the current version from ato.gov.au.
Where this comes from
The official form is published by ato.gov.au; this page is a completion guide. Last checked on 2026-10-17.
When to use it
Use when a client disputes an assessment, amended assessment, private ruling or other objectionable taxation decision. Do not use it where an amendment request will do, for payment difficulties, or where the decision is not objectionable: check eligibility first.
How AI may be used
AI may draft the objection structure and grounds from the assessment, the return papers and the lawyer's issues list. Grounds must be stated fully and specifically and the time limit worked out by a person, not left to an AI tool.
AI may
- Extract the decision details, amounts and dates from the notice of assessment into the objection structure
- Draft grounds from the lawyer's issues list, with the facts and documents relied on for each
- Prepare the list of supporting documents and check each is referred to in a ground
- Compare the draft grounds with the ATO's reasons and list any reason not answered
AI must not
- Must not work out or diarise the objection deadline: a person confirms the date the notice was given and the period that applies
- Must not add grounds the evidence does not support, or drop alternative grounds the lawyer has identified
- Must not mark the TPB(GS) 55/2026 checks as done on the file
The lawyer checks
- The decision is objectionable and the correct time limit has been applied
- Each ground states what is wrong, why, and what the correct figure is, because later review is limited to these grounds
- Relief sought is quantified and matches the grounds
- The client has been told the debt remains recoverable and has considered a payment arrangement
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Official form
Open the official form. Always use the current version from the issuer. Licence: ATO copyright notice: free to copy, adapt and distribute with no implied ATO endorsement. Approved form: link only; always use the current version from ato.gov.au..
Read the full text
The full text is for signed-in accounts. It is free. When you sign in you can:
- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
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