Data Matching Between Department of Home Affairs & Australian Taxation Office

Data Matching Between Department of Home Affairs & Australian Taxation Office

What are the changes?

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) will now acquire information from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), to control and identify the sponsors working in breach of their visa conditions.

The Australian Tax Office has implemented a new Single Touch Payroll system allowing the DHA to efficiently audit payroll information of any business. This new system will now put sponsors under further scrutiny and businesses may face penalties as an outcome.

Why is this being implemented?

The Department of Home Affairs has advised that these measures are being implemented to better identify ‘illegal non-citizens’, and to control fraud within businesses. The Single Touch Payroll system has been designed to ‘watch’ the employees’ tax and super information. Once a business pays their employees the information is sent to the ATO. The DHA retrieves the records of the visa holders and employers in order to perform any functions of the Migration Act.

Check your employees work entitlements to ensure compliance

The Department of Home Affairs will have the power to audit the payroll information of any business to identify the sponsors working in breach of their visa conditions. This will result in employers facing penalties. The assessment of sponsors before recruitment is entirely up to the employer’s responsibility to check the work rights for the duration of the employment. Regular checks are crucial to avoid financial penalties.

For an assessment of your matter, audit of your visa holding population or any other assistance please contact us on 1300 083 843 or via email at info@ethosmigration.com.au