Australian politics live: Labor says ATO could have handled credit card ban better; man cautioned for allegedly stalking MPs

The assistant treasurer, Daniel Mulino, says the tax office was dealing with a “complex” problem when deciding how to address the ban on credit card payment surcharges but, with the benefit of hindsight, it could have done better.

Speaking on ABC’s Radio National this morning, Mulino said the tax commissioner, Rob Heferen, said the reforms were really important and the Australian Taxation Office had been concurrently trying to negotiate with credit card companies while determining an adequate transition period.

The ATO stopped accepting credit card payments after the ban came into effect at the beginning of October. Heferen previously warned it would cost the ATO about $200m a year if it could not pass on the banking and credit card fees on to customers.