Lismore's business owners left last night's meeting with the Australian Taxation Office representatives with a much better understanding of how the taxation system works, but with only a little positive news about the help that the ATO can provide.

Business NSW's Jane Laverty went around the room so everyone could introduce themselves and explain their business operation. Lismore Taxi's, AJ Magnay, Furniture Wiz, PJ's Fruit, Scoops and Candy, Horns Gas, were just some of the flood-affected owners in the room.

Ms Laverty then introduced two senior-level bureaucrats, Anna Longley, the Acting Deputy Commissioner Deputy Registrar and Emma Tobias, the Assistant Commissioner, who explained their roles within the ATO and what options for help were available.

Ms Longley started by saying that the Federal Government does not have a system in place to deal with a disaster situation like Lismore experienced in 2022.

The ATO has approximately $48 billion in tax debt to collect, and Lismore's debt was lower than the national average, which was hard to fathom given our experience in the last three years but a testament to our resilience.

Communication was the key recommendation from Ms Tobias if business owners were struggling to make the PAYG, GST or Super payments.

The options available for business owners included 12-month interest-free payment plans and then payment plans that could run over a three-year period. Years two and three would be charged interest.

Hayley Brown from Horns Gas & Plumbing related her position to Ms Longley and Tobias. Hayley and her husband had lost $500,000 in stock and were in debt to the ATO for $191,000, which they were paying back at $6,000 a month since the flood.

The interest and/or overdue fees that are being accumulated cannot be waived because current legislation says it must be charged. There are no discretionary powers. And the interest/overdue fees exacerbate the debt problem in what appeared to be an ongoing merry-go-round.

Here lies the problem, not just for Lismore business owners, but business owners around Australia. Those in Townsville will experience what Lismore has in the next 2-3 years.

The Australian Government would need changes to the taxation legislation to make meaningful change that would help Lismore business owners when the next major disaster hits our city and our region.

That is change that, like our rebuild, will take time and involve all three levels of government to strongly advocate for a National Disaster Taxation Plan. One that can be triggered when an area is classified as a National Disaster Zone.

Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin summarised the night, "The fact that the ATO at very senior level, is listening to our community, first of all, our accountants and financial planners, and then our local businesses having a conversation with us is wonderful.

"Within their legislative framework, the protocols they operate within, they're looking at how we can respond to disaster-impacted communities. That's clear. A lot of agencies across Australia are doing the same because after 2022, we knew we couldn't go on business as usual. So that's the first thing.

"The second thing. Yes, some of the things that we're recommending would require legislative change, and that's up to us to put that forward and then advocate. And when I say us, I mean local members, federal members, state member councils, all of us go together.

The 28 February 2022 big flood means Lismore has been leading the way for governments to create meaningful community change following a large-scale natural disaster.