Aussie IT contractors who have been affected by Plutus Payroll’s legal wrangles with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) can expect to see their wages within days.
“Plutus Payroll is very pleased to advise that the ATO has agreed to allow the release of the wages owed to our contractors,” the outsourced payroll management service provider told its clients on 10 May. “The ATO has written to the Commonwealth Bank today to ask that the funds be released.
“Given the unusual circumstances, it may be a day or two before the Commonwealth Bank processes these payments, but it is expected that you should see the money in your account within the next 72 hours,” it said.
The good news comes weeks after the ATO froze the accounts of the payroll management service provider, which focuses heavily on the IT sector, due to a dispute with the country’s tax collector.
“Our dispute is with the Australian Taxation Office who believe[s] that Plutus owes the ATO money,” Plutus said in a statement to customers published on 5 May.
The company subsequently instructed its lawyers to urgently file proceedings in the Federal Court, asking the court to intervene and order the ATO to release its bank accounts, letting it pay its contractors.
By 8 May, the company said it had made a “considerable amount of good progress” in its discussions with the ATO, and hoped that a practical resolution to the dispute, and payment of the amounts owed to contractors, could be made in the “coming days”.
Now, the company is thanking the ATO for working extended hours and negotiating in good faith over the past few days to free up funds for contractors’ wages.
“Our next priority is to ensure super contributions that have been collected on your behalf are paid to you within statutory deadlines,” the company said. “March 2017 contributions were due by 15 April 2017 and these were paid in accordance with the statutory timeframes.
“Contributions for the more recent pay periods are presently held in the Plutus bank account and it is our intention to continue to discuss this issue with the ATO and have these amounts paid within the statutory deadlines,” it said.
