Treasurer Jim Chalmers has pushed back against the Prime Minister’s claims that the ATO credit card backflip was his Captain’s call, insisting it was a team effort.

The Prime Minister claimed overnight that the decision to delay the move was all his own, finalised after a text message last Thursday from an industry group representing business the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

But after claims that implied he was rolled by the Prime Minister, the Treasurer has suggested the decision was actually made a day earlier between the two of them.

“I have an open door. I’ve met with ACCI in recent weeks, in fact, and we were engaging on these issues as well,’’ he said.

“Last week on the Wednesday, I had discussions with the prime minister. We agreed that it would be appropriate to find a better way through for small business.

“We engaged with the business community on the Thursday, as we do frequently, on these sorts of issues.

“Then [the assistant treasurer] Daniel Mulino and I took a proposal to ministers on the Friday morning after I discussed with the tax commissioner very early on Friday morning. And by late Friday morning, we had stepped in.”

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Speaking at the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry dinner, Mr Albanese told business leaders that it was a text message last Thursday from Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Andrew McKellar that triggered the decision.

“Andrew did text me last Thursday morning, and by Friday morning we had an announcement,” Mr Albanese said.

“That was an example of a relationship that takes time to develop. That trust, where you can have a discussion and say ‘it is in hand, I agree with what you are saying and I will get it done’.”

The ATO recently announced would stop the practice following the Reserve Bank’s ban on credit card surcharges.

That sparked a major political headache for the government’s concurrent fight with small business, given that the ATO argued it would cost $200 million a year to absorb the fees.

The big changes will no longer come into effect at the end of next month, with the Albanese Government set to announce it has negotiated a consultation period to delay the change.

Speaking in Brisbane on Friday, Jim Chalmers said the changes will now be delayed until the end of the current financial year.

“We’ve stepped in to ensure that the tax office can take credit card payments until the end of June next year,” Mr Chalmers said.

“This will give them the time to consult more with small business and to get it right.

“We take very seriously the feedback that the ATO and the government have received when it comes to implementing this surcharge ban.

“We try not to interfere with the RBA or the ATO when they go about designing and implementing this surcharge ban, but it’s really important that we have stepped in today to make it possible for the ATO to continue to take credit card payments until the end of the financial year.”

Mr Chalmers revealed he had spoken with the Tax Commissioner “very early this morning” before putting the proposal to political colleagues.

It now appears that ACCI texted the Prime Minister on Thursday, the Prime Minister made the big call quickly and his Treasurer was then tasked with breaking the news to the ATO.

“I made sure to talk with the Tax Commissioner about it. I briefed him on the proposal we were putting to our colleagues to fund an extension, so that the ATO would have time to conduct more consultation,’’ Mr Chalmers said.

“The ATO made the decision late in September not to accept credit card payments. Obviously, we were aware of this before then. We’ve been grappling with this issue since.

“We insisted on a transition period which initially was from the beginning of October until the end of November. And today, we are substantially extending that period.”

However, the changes do not impact other small businesses, such as childcare centres that are planning to ban credit cards.

“When it comes to reforms more broadly, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that Australians paid $1.6 billion in surcharges last year,” Mr Chalmers said.

“Australians get, I think, very annoyed when the price that they see on the menu is not the price that they pay when they tap their card or their phone.

“So the reforms are about addressing those legitimate concerns that people have. Now, one of the neglected elements of this is that part of the package is to save small businesses more than $900 million a year in interchange fees.”

Earlier, Liberal senator Sarah Henderson called on Anthony Albanese to step in over the Australian Taxation Office’s decision to stop accepting credit card payments.

“The Prime Minister needs to say this is not happening,” Senator Henderson told News24 on Friday.

“It shows how weak he is. There is an uproar across this country.”

“He needs to fix this, and he needs to fix it immediately.”

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Nahji Chu, who runs Potts Point’s Lady Chu restaurant, had previously unloaded on the decision this week accusing the government of trying to “put her on the dole”.

Ms Chu told the Today Show small businesses had dealt with blows “one week after another” this year: “So we’re dodging bullets the whole time”.

“If you can pay $10,000 on your credit card, it means a whole month of breathing space so you can bring more money in from revenue. But if revenue’s coming in and you don’t have the credit card facility, of course you’ve got to increase your prices,” Ms Chu said.

“You can’t keep absorbing everything. You’ve already got shock absorbers on that are completely blunt from what everything the government’s done.”

Speaking before the changes were announced, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the ATO was independent, but she urged them to consult with small businesses.

“The ATO are independent. Governments can’t direct the tax office to implement tax in a certain way,” Senator Wong said.