The article.
Published 9 October 2026
Card fees now come out of your margin, not your client's pocket.
The Reserve Bank's scrapping of card surcharges began on 1 October, so an Australian business can no longer pass the merchant fee on to the person paying. In the same fortnight the Australian Taxation Office announced the ATO would stop taking credit cards for tax bills, and the federal government has since pushed the cut-off date back. For a woman running a service business, both decisions land on the same line of the budget: cash flow.
What changed, in order
- Late September: the ATO decided to stop accepting credit card payments for tax from December. The ATO said absorbing the merchant fees would cost taxpayers almost $200 million a year (ABC News, 7 October 2026; ABC News, 9 October 2026).
- 1 October: the Reserve Bank's surcharge reforms began, which the Reserve Bank says will save customers about $1.6 billion a year (ABC News, 7 October 2026).
- 7 October: Tax Commissioner Rob Heferen held a snap meeting with business groups, and the ATO indicated the ATO will not reverse the credit card decision (ABC News, 7 October 2026).
- 9 October: Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced the ATO will keep accepting credit cards until 30 June 2027, with the government temporarily covering the surcharges (ABC News, 9 October 2026).
According to the ATO, about 5 per cent of small businesses use a credit card to pay their tax (ABC News, 7 October 2026).
A founder in that group has until 30 June 2027 to change how she pays the ATO. A founder outside that group still feels the surcharge ban every time a client taps a card to pay for a facial, a consult or a session.
The card fee is now part of your price
Before 1 October, a salon, clinic or studio could add a percentage at the counter and call the surcharge the client's cost. That line on the receipt is gone. Every card payment now costs you whatever fee your payment provider charges, and the only place left to recover the fee is the price itself.
The fix starts with one number. Pull the last three months of statements from your payment provider, add up the fees, and divide the total by the revenue you took by card. The result is your card fee percentage, and that percentage is now a cost of doing business, the same as rent.
Then build the card fee into the price. EMME Influence charges one price on every invoice, payment link and booking page, whether a client pays by card or bank transfer. One price reads as confident, while two prices read as the opening of a negotiation.
Cash flow without the credit card buffer
The harder loss falls on the small businesses that pay tax by credit card. A founder who paid her BAS on a credit card gained the card's interest-free days before the money left the business account, and those days could cover the gap between invoicing a client and being paid.
Business groups said removing the credit card option will disrupt small business cash flow, and some fear falling into arrears with the ATO (ABC News, 7 October 2026).
Four habits can do the work the card's interest-free days used to do:
- Move a set share of every payment into a separate tax account on the day the money lands, so the BAS amount is already sitting aside. Your accountant can tell you the share that fits your income.
- Ask for a deposit before work starts, which shortens the gap between doing the work and holding the money.
- Shorten payment terms for new clients from 30 days to seven.
- If a tax bill still lands short, call the ATO about a payment plan before the due date rather than after.
The extension is a deadline, so start now
Andrew McKellar, chief executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, called the extension "much-needed breathing space for small business", and Opposition Leader Angus Taylor demanded the ban be scrapped altogether (ABC News, 9 October 2026). Until the ATO says otherwise, plan as though the credit card option for tax ends on 30 June 2027.
A founder who changes her payment habits early does the work on her own schedule, while a founder who waits does the same work against a due date. Three jobs, in order:
- Find your card fee percentage from the last three months of payment provider statements.
- Build the card fee into your price, then update every invoice, payment link and booking page to show one price.
- Open a separate tax account and set a transfer to run on every payment you receive.
A founder who knows the true cost of being paid sets her own price. A founder who never looks lets the merchant fee set the price for her.
This article is general information, not tax or financial advice, and your accountant can apply the surcharge ban and the ATO credit card change to your own business.