1300661508

George, why on earth would I provide my direct line to be inundated with calls from anyone questioning authenticity of these calls???? Shall I give you my mobile number as well??? Anyway, up to any of you thinking that it is not legit.
Call 13 28 61 which is our personal tax line. Ask them to look up "TPALS Outbound calls" in "reference manager"....and then you will (& the people in the call centre) will be enlightened to find out that it is very legit.
When you call us back, you provide us with your TFN as your personal reference...then miraculously all your info will be on our screen.
And Michelle, the bank does make calls...if I ever miss a credit card payment trust me they call & then I provide them with my DOB & confirm my address...
Anyway...done trying to convince any of you...don't call the correct number being 1300 661 508, and call the main number which is a call centre & you will get people who are ill informed & actually don't have access to systems that we do...so can't see our narratives regarding the call we have made...your choice-doesn't bother me..but it won't make the reason why we were calling go away either!

1300 661 508 is legit... I got the same dodgy sounding msg on my mobile and looked up this website being freaked about it.  Called 13 28 61, personal income tax line, but the woman said there said whoever called didn't update my record with their reason for calling.  So I rang up 1300 661 508, getting ready to interrogate them.  Got a pretty friendly Australian woman named Sharon.  When I raised my doubts she suggested I call the internal administration line 13 28 69 and ask about TPOLs... b/c she sounded legit, I was just said let's just get on with it.  She only asked for my TFN and DOB.  After I was identified, she literally knew everything about me... every bank I earned interest from (all three of them), each year I lodged a return, my phone number, my address, and she just spewed this out without prompting from me.  So I'm pretty sure she'd had access to the tax file record.  The reason for the call was that I didn't lodge a tax return while I was in uni and not working.  Turns out I should have because I earned interest from my silly ING direct account on my $5000 of savings or whatever, and I may be due a refund.  So she's sending out a tax pack for that.  I do not think this number is that of an identify thief.

an indian man said he is from ATO to discuss about my tax. I ask for his contact number - 1300 661 508. well, I know tax office hardly call taxpayer directly. They refer official letter. dodgy.

Barry, in answer to your question, you are the clown - stop trying to scam hard working Australians and get a real job.   This number is not an ATO number.  If people want to confirm whether or not the tax office has called them, call them back (as per their phone number on their website, not this dodgy number) and ask if they have any reason to have called you.

Um, when you don't lodge a tax return, the ATO sends you a letter, they don't call you up.

Being naturally sceptical I telephoned the ATO switchboard as published in the White Pages. They confirmed that the number is legit as at 24/08/2010 and put me through to it. It had to do with BAS returns, or rather my slow returning of them!

all got a call on my moblie, stating a person from ATO, real rude, asking me to prove who i am, bsb, account numbers, and ABN, AND TAX FILE NUMBER - WOUNDNT THE TAX DEPARTMENT KNOW THAT!!!!

ITS A SCAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Just had the missed call from this number, rang the ATO phone number (BAS hotline off their website), spoke to a lady who confirmed that there was a note on my file that someone from the tax office called and left the message. Number seems legit to me - unless they have somehow managed to hijack the official tax office lines..... probably not. Number is real guys, dont sweat it, but I love having websites like this one, very handy.

If you are still unsure, just ring the ato number from their website and they will confirm it for you.

Hi there,

Received a call today at 15:05 from 07 4779 1189 saying they were from the ATO.  I told them I was busy, as I am a suspicious [***] and they asked me to ring back between 08:00 - 18:00 ESDT before the end of the week as there was a problem with my tax.  They asked me to quote my tax file no and ABN.

Now I've checked, I guess I'll be calling the REAL ATO tomorrow to let them know!

I got a message on my voicemail to return a call to 1300 661 508. Funny thing is that it was for my ex-wife who hasn't been on my contact number for two tax seasons now.

Received call this afternoon from a Jeremy Hall re a client and to call the number.
Felt unsure and googled number to locate this.

I got a call - thought it was a scam but its actually legit - just refuse to provide details when you get called and call the ATO back - easy!

it the ATO..  ( taxation office)
FORMS and LODGEMENT..

Problem is most of them are foreigners  on the phone,,,,,,

ive had asian , scottish, and indian.   some of them quite Rude and speak very fast.

Received a call from an Indian lady saying she was from the ATO and said she needed my TFN to access my account before she could tell me what she was calling for. I told her I would call her back and she gave me this number 1300 661 508

Received a call from an Indian lady saying she was from the ATO and said she needed my TFN to access my account before she could tell me what she was calling for. I told her I would call her back and she gave me this number 1300 661 508

My experience with this number is as follows:

I received a call to contact the number 1300 661 508. I tried calling it twice, both times it rang out and was asked to leave a message. I thought it was strange, so I called the Australian Tax Office on the personal self help number number listed at their web site: www.ato.gov.au

While on hold, I Google searched the number a found this forum. At that point I thought I was possibly dealing with a scammer after reading other people's experiences. After my call was answered I explained that I received the message and the ATO customer support person checked the number on their systems. Apparently the number is for the debt collection area. The ATO then transfered me to the correct area to check my details, the issue I finally managed to determine was related to late lodgment of Business Activity Statements, luckily I submitted them a few days earlier and avoided a possible fine. The service standard was friendly, but a little lacking in professionalism for a Government agency, which I think seemed to add to a suspicion it could possibly be a dodgy caller.

My recommendation is to call the numbers listed on the ATO website www.ato.gov.au if you might be concerned it is a dodgy call and they will direct you to the right area (a possible second recommendation is to lodge paperwork on time!)

I also had a message on my machine today 31/3/11.  After finding this site, and seeing some peoples answers, I checked our business account through the business portal, and there was an overdue BAS statement.  I haven't rang back yet but assuming it must of been legit.

***IMPORTANT MESSAGE***

Hello all,

Before you dismiss the phone message as a scam, DON'T.  It's indeed the ATO trying to chase you up for something such as a BAS statement.

I'm a small business owner operating as a Sole Trader.  I received the voice-mail message from "ATO" asking to call back 1300 661 508 and have my TFN handy. Before calling back I googled the phone number to check that it was ATO and found this forum. Most comments here advise that it is a scam and a fake... so I was about to delete the message and was thinking how lucky I was to have found the forum!

Luckily, however, I scrolled through to the 2nd page of comments to find some people saying it was legitimate.  

I decided not to call the 1300 number but to call the ATO direct instead (see www.ato.gov.au). It turns out that the original phone message was indeed from the ATO and that the 1300 661 508 number is real. They were chasing me up from some BAS statements which weren't lodged.

It's best not to mess with the ATO and potentially flag yourself for an audit! Just do what I did and call the ATO on the numbers listed on their website. www.ato.gov.au

I hope this comment might influence people not to dismiss the message as a scam.

I was left a message today by a guy with an Indian accent who said to ring the ATO on 1300 661 508. I rang back and the number is legitimate, it is the ATO. They asked for my ABN or TFN and the call was made in relation to an outstanding BAS.

Alfonso, guess the jokes on you considering it is the ATO! And yes, we do send written correspondence to clients...however we also call clients if we don't have a response to that correspondence. Further to that, trust me, I laugh reading your comments as you are very ill informed stating that it is dodgy when I get up every morning to make calls & receive calls for this very number!!!! We are an equal opportunity organisation & we have ppl of all nationalities working here so you may receive a call from someone who has an kind of an accent. People are allowed to be cautious, but by you making stupid statements like this you may prevent ppl from speaking with us & therefore penalised fro not addressing the issue.