ATO data matching for Australian businesses sponsoring visa holders

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will acquire visa data from the Department of Home Affairs for 2023–24 through to 2025–26.

The ATO data matching will involve collecting a wide range of data, including:

• Address and contact history for visa applicants and sponsors.

• Address and contact history for migration agents.

• Active visas meeting specific criteria.

• All visa grants.

• Visa grant status by specific time points.

• Details of migration agents who facilitated visa processing.

• Records of international travel movements by visa holders (arrivals and departures).

• Sponsor details for the 482 visa.

• Visa subclass names.

The ATO estimates that records relating to approximately 9 million individuals will be obtained each financial year.

The objectives of this program are to:

• Help ensure that individuals and businesses fulfil their tax and super reporting obligations.

• Promote voluntary compliance by communicating how we use external data to help encourage taxpayers to comply with their tax and super obligations and to increase community confidence in the integrity of these systems.

• Continue to refine our understanding of the tax and super risks across visa holders, visa sponsors and migration agents.

• Develop and implement treatment strategies to improve voluntary compliance, including educational or appropriate compliance activities.

• Help ensure visa populations fulfil their registration, lodgement, correct reporting and payment of tax and super obligations.

• Test the accuracy and strengths in our risk detection models and treatment systems and practices and identify areas for improvement.

• Identify potentially new or emergent approaches to fraud and those entities controlling or exploiting the visa framework.

• Improve the integrity of the tax and superannuation systems by cancelling ABNs of ineligible ABN holders.

• Support compliance activities under Australia's foreign investment rules.

It is crucial employers have processes in place to ensure compliance with the visa framework. It could be a good time to undertake an audit and review your processes to ensure they are robust. We can assist you with this. Contact one of our Registered Migration Agents today.

Disclaimer: The information provided herein is of a general nature only and does not constitute immigration advice. For more detailed and case-specific information or advice, please get in touch with SCA Connect.