Small-business owners are posting AI-style relationship-status memes about the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to mock or criticize its decision on credit-card payments. The posts frame the business owner and the tax office as a couple in conflict; one reported caption called the relationship “complicated.”
What does “in a relationship with the ATO” mean?
It is a social-media meme, not a literal relationship or a reference to joint credit-card advice. As reported by The Nightly, posts—mostly on Facebook—used an AI-labeled relationship-status format over a small-business owner’s profile photo and tagged the ATO. Melbourne real-estate agent Brent Day was among the participants.
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Day’s reported caption read: “A relationship where they take 50 per cent of everything I make and still want to know what I’m doing with the other 50 per cent.” That is his satirical characterization, not a factual description of tax liabilities or the ATO’s explanation of its policy.
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Why are business owners posting about the ATO?
The Nightly linked the posts to the ATO’s announced decision to stop accepting credit-card payments. Its report said the announcement came on the same day a card-surcharge ban took effect, and described criticism from small-business owners who objected that the ATO would not absorb card-processing costs while businesses were responding to the surcharge change.
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That criticism reflects the views reported in the story; it does not establish that every business has the same costs or faces the same consequences. Nor does the available coverage provide a directly relevant statement from the ATO explaining its rationale. The memes should therefore be read as commentary on the decision, not as an authoritative account of the agency’s position.
What is known about the payment change?
ABC News reported that the ATO said credit cards accounted for 2.3% of payments made to it. ABC also reported that the federal government would temporarily cover credit-card surcharges after businesses warned that losing the payment option would put pressure on them. These are separate parts of the dispute: the ATO’s reported payment share and the government’s reported temporary response to surcharge costs.
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The available reports do not establish the complete current implementation timetable or all payment arrangements. For a decision about how to pay a tax bill, check the ATO’s current payment instructions rather than relying on a social-media post or a news report about the announcement. The 2.3% figure is attributed to the ATO in ABC’s reporting; it is not a measure of how many businesses use credit cards or how many people joined the meme.
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ABC’s coverage of the surcharge ban cited the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Consumer Payments Survey. The figures below describe Australians’ cash use in a typical week, not opinions about the ATO, the surcharge ban or the meme trend.
| Survey year | Australians who used cash in a typical week |
|---|---|
| 2007 | 97% |
| 2022 | 47% |
| 2025 | 50% |
ABC also reported expert assessments that the surcharge change could prompt a modest increase in cash use, mainly at the margins, but that cash use was not expected to skyrocket. Those are predictions, not observed outcomes. The survey figures alone cannot show whether the ban or this online trend changed anyone’s payment choices.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What is still unclear about the trend?
The reporting does not identify the first post, establish a precise start date, count the posts or participants, or measure the trend’s audience reach. One reported participant and a description of posts—mostly on Facebook—do not show how representative the criticism is of small businesses generally.
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For ordinary guidance about sharing a credit card in a personal relationship, Moneysmart’s relationships and money guidance addresses a different subject from this meme.
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