Strengthening of data matching between The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) & The Australian Tax Office (ATO)
The Department of Home Affairs is running a data-matching initiative with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to enhance compliance oversight under the Skills in Demand (subclass 482) visa program and other temporary visa subclasses.
As part of this initiative, the Department will compare visa holder information with Single Touch Payroll (STP) data and other visa holder information to assess:
- Ensuring sponsoring employers are meeting their sponsorship obligations, including paying correct wages and superannuation contributions
- Compliance of visa-holders’ conditions such as remaining employed with their approved sponsor or adhering to working hours limitations
- Determining if visa holders departing Australia are entitled to access their superannuation
- Identifying incorrect tax refunds; and
- Cancelling Australian Business Numbers (ABN) obtained and being used inappropriately by visa holders as contractors when they should be classified as employees
The Department of Home Affairs periodically carries out data matching exercises making records between the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and Department of Home Affairs (DHA) to match data against each government agency records to ensure visa holders and work sponsors are meeting their related obligations.
The Department of Home Affairs has also advised as part of the data matching initiative, the ATO will also confirm if visa holders who received JobKeeper payments as a response to the impact of COVID-19 were entitled to it or not.
The ATO will be collecting data from the Department of Home Affairs for the financial years of 2020-2021 and 2022-203 for over 58,000 visa holders.
We recommend all approved business sponsors are periodically reviewing their payroll systems and Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) to ensure ongoing compliance.
Ethos Migration lawyers offer ongoing compliance, audit and training services for organisations requiring assistance. Contact us by summitting an enquiry online or calling our office on 1300 083 843 for advice and assistance.