My hubby received a message asking to call on the 1300 466 859 and so I called it to sort it out and after everything was sorted I started to panic and googled the number and came across this thread. I had already given everthing including bank details so I took all the money out of said account and then called the ATO and happy to say IT WAS NOT A SCAM....... PHEW !

It's a scam. I just called the fraud line of the ATO who confirmed that the ATO have no reason to call me, no record of a call to me on file and no record of that number on their system. I did call the number and spoke to a chap who told me i had gst debt and asked me all of my personal information I told him to send me a letter - it's all rubbish and they are just trying to get the personal info that the tax office need to deal with you - why? I have no idea. Call an ATO number and ask them to look at your file and find out whats going on rather than this fraud number.

Yes it does, i work for accountants and we get calls from them all the time

Its a scam. I am up to date with my tax which was confirmed with my agent who called the tax department who also confirmed all o.k.

Don't be a sucker.

"ATO" you are wrong. They do have an early collections department. It is who takes over your debt recovery if you are very delinquent in paying your tax debts. If you think it is incorrect, simply call the main ATO line and they will transfer you to the early collection department.

You're an idiot - and wrong

Yes, yes they do. On the below page you'll see "Debt Early Intervention" and the number 1300 880 217 next to it.
https://www.ato.gov.au/About-ATO/About-us/Contact-us/Phone-us/

Stop spreading plain misinformation.

I work in the early debt collections department for the ATO, I contact clients who have debts - or payment plans which have defaulted. If Im unable to contact a client I usually leave a message for the client to call back on 1300 466 859, If you don't call me back then your debt case will be elevated to a higher department and then we may refer your debt to an external debt collection agency. We may even garnishee your bank account, or start legal action depending on the size of the debt. Its in your best interest to not ignore my call. You have been warned. IT IS NOT A SCAM.

no scam....

Just ignore anyone that says this is NOT a scam. it is. A bunch of pricks preying on the people who should don't know better. They got my name wrong and said they needed to talk to me regarding someone's tax file. Someone I had dealings with over 7 years ago.
The ATO don't do this.

so i get this call as well, i call back on the 1300# that was provided on my answering service. 1300 466 859. i google it and find all this stuff here. so i am pretty sceptical. But the lady knew my tax debt and i figure this is legit. then when i ask her where her office is she tells me that its in varsity parade Varsity Lakes QLD. OK cool.. now little does this lady know i also work in Varsity parade in Varsity Lakes. So i ask her some general stuff like so that must be a nice place is there any cafes you can have lunch at etc.. no there isnt any etc etc.. so i call her out saying that she doesn't work there and she has a virtual office and is this true.. She says yes. I ask her what is the name of the third party debt collections agency you work for and she gets really upset and tells me that she doesnt have to give me this information... NOW what kind of a f*cked up company gets a contract like this to collect for the ATO.. possibly the most bullsh*t call i have ever had... all she kept saying was you called us you called us and yet the number she gave me is no where to be found nor could she explain why...
Now if this is a legit collection agency and it may well be, it is the worst possible contract ever given out. The lady deadset lied to me about the location of her office.

This is a 100% scam. Got a call today, I use a tax agent, I called her she said it's not a tax office number. Go to the ato website and report it.

pretty much the same as already reported, but Kate also works at the ATO, with a bad English accent, just hang up people.

I work in an accountant's office and every single call we get for the ATO or one of the debt collection companies the phone numbers are ALWAYS blocked

total scam

Call the ATO to confirm - it took me 2 minutes after becoming paranoid from this post. This number is definitely part of the ATO collections.

1300 466 859 and 1300 880 217 are the contact phone numbers for the early debt collection department at the ATO. IT IS NOT A SCAM.

You have so much hate dude.. an indian lady called kimmie asked for an employer that no longer works here and I played along that I had to double check coz it's a big office (there's only 5 people here), she asked what company she called and even after repeating it 3 times she still said it wrong so I let it go and didn't correct her. Called the ATO (132861) and spoke to an Emily and she's confirmed that 1300 880 217 is indeed one of their numbers.

1300 466 859 and 1300 880 217 are ATO debt collection contact numbers, I would suggest anyone that receive a voicemail from them to check their or the mentioned entity ATO account balance either through myGov account linked to the ATO for individuals/sole traders or using the Business Portal (Auskey is required). This will verify that you do have an outstanding debt. I would then contact these numbers if your still unsure about these numbers, either contact the ATO switchboard on 13 28 69 or the general ATO debt area on 13 11 42.

So I had a missed call from a pvt number from a woman who couldn't get my name out properly.

She sounded very convincing in her almost boganlike, nasally accent that has choked on too many big foreign cox, and I suspect she is part of this scamming ring as she's made some poor life decisions and while thinking she and this operation are rather slick, should possibly look at other ways of earning an honest living.

Maybe get back on her knees again and leave us honest (yet sometimes crude and descriptive) workers to live in peace.

To Steve, Alan, Mel and the other cohorts claiming this to be legit ATO, if some terrible tragedy strikes you or your family in the near future, maybe ask yourself if you deserved to become a victim, as I've heard from others that this particular operation has targeted the elderly and vulnerable with disgusting, predatory and bullying tactics.

The pure coincidence of the timing of these calls (not the first time I have received similar inquisitive calls in the past) from those claiming to be from the ATO, when I have been close to defaulting on a payment plan, makes me VERY SUSPICIOUS of how these leeches have obtained such confidential info.

It seems like said nasally voiced CUM GUZZLER mentioned above and her merry band who are also commenting on this thread (attempting to back up its legitimacy) and obviously in on this bottom feeding exercise, somehow have access to ATO clients info at just the right time to make them feel vulnerable and scared into making unnecessary ILLEGAL DEMANDS causing stress to coerse excessive, immediate payments.