More Aussie businesses are being driven to the brink of collapse, as the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) tightens the screws on outstanding debts. And there’s more pain to come.

More than 10,000 companies are expected to enter external administration by the end of the current financial year, ASIC predicts. That would mark a level not seen in more than a decade.

Insolvency firm Jirsch Sutherland said it had seen a “noticeable uptick” in businesses being driven to rescue programs like…