Tax file number declaration
Tax file number declaration
The information you provide in the Tax file number declaration (NAT 3092) will allow your payer to work out how much tax to withhold from payments made to you.
|
Do not use this form if you are a beneficiary wanting to provide your tax file number (TFN) to the trustee of a closely held trust. For more information, refer to TFN withholding for closely held trusts.
|
The Tax file number declaration (NAT 3092) is made up of two parts:
- the first part is the instructions
- the second part is the form you need to complete and give to your payer.
If your payer currently lodges their TFN declaration reports electronically, you may be able to complete an electronic TFN declaration form. See your payer for more details.
You can obtain a paper copy of the Tax file number declaration (NAT 3092), including both the instructions and form:
- through online ordering
- by phoning 1300 720 092
- from ATO shopfronts
- from most newsagents.
|
A PDF version of the form is available as a 'sample only'. Do not print and submit this form as it can not be processed by our systems. You must order and complete the paper copy provided by us.
Take note of the name Tax file number declaration (NAT 3092) before ordering the product.
|
|
The form is reviewed annually so order only what you need.
|
|
Terms we use
When we say:
- payer, we mean the business or individual making payments under the pay as you go (PAYG) withholding system
- payee, we mean the individual being paid.
|
You should complete this form before you start to receive payments from a new payer. For example, when you receive:
- payments for work and services as an employee, company director or office holder
- payments under return-to-work schemes
- payments under labour hire arrangements or other specified payments
- benefit and compensation payments
- super benefits.
The information you provide on this form is used to work out the amount of tax to be withheld from payments made to you. For example, if you:
- are claiming the tax-free threshold from this payer
- are an Australian resident for tax purposes
- have a Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) debt
- have a Financial Supplement debt.
|
You do not need to complete this form if you have reached 60 years of age and started a super benefit that does not include an untaxed element for that benefit.
|
Where can you find your TFN?
You will find your TFN on:
- your income tax notice of assessment
- certain correspondence we send you
- a payment summary issued to you by your payer.
If you use a registered tax agent, they may also be able to tell you your TFN.
|
If you still can't find your TFN, you can:
- phone 13 28 61 between 8.00am and 6.00pm, Monday to Friday
- visit one of our shopfronts (phone 13 28 61 to make an appointment).
If you phone or visit us we need to know we're talking to the right person before we can discuss your tax affairs. We'll ask for details only you, or someone you've authorised would know. An authorised contact is someone who you've previously told us can act on your behalf.
|
If you don't have a TFN and want to provide a TFN to your payer, you will need to complete and lodge a TFN application form. There are a range of forms available depending on your circumstances.
See More information for further details.
In addition to the TFN declaration, you may also need to complete and give your payer the following forms:
- Withholding declaration (NAT 3093) if you want to:
- claim entitlement to the seniors and pensioners tax offset (question 9) or other tax offsets (question 10)
- advise your payer to adjust the amount withheld from payments made to you
- change information you previously provided in a Tax file number declaration (NAT 3092) - for example:
- advise your payer that you have become, or ceased to be, an Australian resident for tax purposes
- claim, or discontinue claiming, the tax-free threshold
- advise your payer of, or make changes to, your HELP or Financial Supplement repayment obligations
- increase the rate or amount to be withheld
- claim or vary your entitlement to zone, overseas forces, dependent spouse, special tax offset or seniors and pensioners tax offset
- Medicare levy variation declaration (NAT 0929) if you qualify for a reduced rate of Medicare levy or are liable for the Medicare levy surcharge. You can vary the amount your payer withholds from your payments (see More information).
|
You need to provide all information requested on this form. Providing the wrong information may lead to incorrect amounts of tax being withheld from payments made to you.
|
What is your tax file number (TFN)?
This question asks you to quote your TFN. If you need to find your TFN, refer to Where can you find your TFN?
|
We and your payer are authorised by the Taxation Administration Act 1953 (TAA 1953) to ask for your TFN. It is not an offence not to quote your TFN. However, your payer is required to withhold the top rate of tax plus the Medicare levy (or the top rate of tax if you are not an Australian resident for tax purposes) from all payments made to you if you do not provide your TFN or claim an exemption from quoting your TFN.
|
You may claim an exemption from quoting your TFN.
Print X in the appropriate box if you:
- have lodged a TFN application or enquiry form for individuals or made a phone or shopfront enquiry to obtain your TFN. You now have 28 days to provide your TFN to your payer who must withhold at the standard rate during this time. After 28 days, if you have not given your TFN to your payer, they will withhold the top rate of tax plus the Medicare levy (or the top rate of tax if you are not an Australian resident for tax purposes) from future payments
- are claiming an exemption from quoting a TFN because you are under 18 years of age and do not earn enough to pay tax or an applicant or recipient of certain pensions, benefits or allowances from the
- Department of Human Services - however, you will need to quote your TFN if you receive Austudy, Newstart, youth, sickness or parenting allowance
- Department of Veterans' Affairs - a service pension under the Veterans' Entitlement Act 1986
- Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission.
Provision of your TFN to your super fund
Your payer must quote your TFN to the super fund they pay your contributions to on your behalf. If your super fund does not have your TFN, you can provide it to them. This ensures:
- your super fund can accept all types of contributions to your account (or accounts)
- additional tax will not be imposed on contributions as a result of failing to provide your TFN to your super fund
- there will be no additional tax to be deducted when you start drawing down your super benefits, other than the tax that may ordinarily apply
- you can trace different super accounts in your name so that you receive all your super when you retire.
Under the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993, your super fund is authorised to collect your TFN, which will only be used for purposes under the super laws. The trustee of your super fund may provide your TFN to another super provider if your benefits are being transferred. You may write to the trustee of your super fund and ask them not to provide your TFN to any other trustee.
For more information about privacy, see Privacy of information.
Fill in your personal information.
On what basis are you paid?
Check with your payer if you are not sure.
Question 7
Are you an Australian resident for tax purposes?
Generally, we consider you to be an Australian resident for tax purposes if you:
- have always lived in Australia or you have come to Australia and now live here permanently
- are an overseas student doing a course that takes more than six months to complete
- have been in Australia continuously for six months or more and for most of that time you worked in the one job and lived in the same place
- will be or have been in Australia for more than half of the financial year (unless your usual home is overseas and you do not intend to live in Australia).
If you go overseas temporarily and do not set up a permanent home in another country, you may continue to be treated as an Australian resident for tax purposes.
The criteria we use to determine residency are not the same as used by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship or the Department of Human Services.
|
Foreign resident tax rates are different
A higher rate of tax applies to foreign residents' taxable income and foreign residents are not entitled to a tax-free threshold.
You are not entitled to claim the tax-free threshold and tax offsets if you are not an Australian resident for tax purposes. However, there is an exception with seniors and pensioners, zone or overseas forces tax offsets.
|
|
For more information:
|
Answer no to this question if you are not an Australian resident for tax purposes. You must also answer no at questions 8, 9 and 10 (unless you are a foreign resident claiming a seniors and pensioners, zone or overseas forces tax offset).
Do you want to claim the tax-free threshold from this payer?
The tax-free threshold is the amount of income you can earn each financial year that is not taxed. Therefore, by claiming the threshold, you reduce the amount of tax that is withheld from your pay during the year. It is available only to people who are Australian residents for tax purposes (that is, people who answered yes at question 7).
Answer yes if you want to claim the tax-free threshold, you are an Australian resident for tax purposes and one of the following applies:
- you are not currently claiming the tax-free threshold from another payer
- you are currently claiming the tax-free threshold from another payer and your total income from all sources will be less than the tax-free threshold.
Answer no if one of the following applies:
- you answered no at question 7
- you are currently claiming the tax-free threshold from another payer and your total income from all sources will be more than the tax-free threshold
- you do not want to claim the tax-free threshold.
|
Do you have more than one job or payer?
If you are certain that your total income for the year from all sources will be less than the tax-free threshold, you can claim the threshold from all of your payers.
If your total income for the year from all sources will be more than the tax-free threshold, you can only claim the threshold from only one payer at a time. Generally, you would choose the one you expect will pay you the most during the financial year.
If your circumstances change, you must advise your payers by completing a Withholding declaration (NAT 3093).
If you earn more than the tax-free threshold from all sources and you have claimed the tax-free threshold with more than one payer at a time, you may end up with a tax debt at the end of the financial year. To avoid having a debt, you should ask one or more of your payers to withhold additional amounts by completing a Withholding declaration - upwards variation (NAT 5367).
|
|
If you receive any taxable government payments or allowances such as Newstart, Austudy or Youth Allowance, you are likely to be already claiming the tax-free threshold from that payment.
|
|
For more information about your entitlement, which payer you should claim it from, or how to vary your withholding rate:
|
Question 9
Do you want to claim the seniors and pensioners tax offset by reducing the amount withheld from payments made to you?
The senior Australian tax offset (SATO) has been renamed the seniors and pensioners tax offset (SAPTO). This reflects the merger of the pensioner tax offset with the more generous SATO.
|
Claim benefits and tax offsets with only one payer
You are not entitled to reduce your withholding amounts, or claim the SAPTO with more than one payer at the same time.
|
If you receive income from more than one source and need help with this question, phone 1300 360 221 between 8.00am and 6.00pm, Monday to Friday.
How your income affects the amount of your tax offset
You must meet the eligibility conditions to receive the SAPTO. Your rebate income, not your taxable income, determines the amount, if any, of SAPTO you will receive.
Answer yes if you are eligible and choose to claim the SAPTO with this payer. To reduce the amount withheld from payments made to you during the year by this payer, you will also need to complete a Withholding declaration (NAT 3093). If your payer does not have copies of the form, see More information.
Answer no if one of the following applies:
- you are not eligible for the SAPTO
- you are already claiming the SAPTO from another payer
- you are eligible but want to claim your entitlement to the tax offset as a lump sum in your end-of-year income tax assessment.
|
For more information about your eligibility to claim the tax offset or rebate income:
- refer to Tax offsets
- phone 13 28 61 between 8.00am and 6.00pm, Monday to Friday.
|
Question 10
Do you want to claim a zone, overseas forces, dependent spouse or special tax offset by reducing the amount withheld from payments made to you?
|
Claim tax offsets with only one payer
You are not entitled to claim tax offsets with more than one payer at the same time.
|
You may be eligible for one or more of the following:
- a zone tax offset if you live or work in certain remote or isolated areas of Australia
- an overseas forces tax offset if you serve overseas as a member of Australia's Defence Force or a United Nations armed force
- a dependent spouse tax offset
- a special tax offset for a dependent relative (invalid relative, dependent parent, invalid spouse, carer spouse), housekeeper or a dependent child-housekeeper.
Answer yes to this question if you are eligible and choose to receive tax offsets by reducing the amount withheld from payments made to you from this payer. You also need to complete a Withholding declaration (NAT 3093).
Answer no to this question if you are not eligible for the tax offsets, choose to receive any of these tax offsets as an end-of-year lump sum through the tax system, or are already claiming the offset from another payer.
|
Foreign resident
If you are not an Australian resident for tax purposes, you are not entitled to claim a dependent spouse tax offset or a special tax offset. You may be entitled to claim the zone or overseas forces tax offset.
|
|
For more information about your entitlement:
- refer to Tax offsets
- phone 13 28 61 between 8.00am and 6.00pm, Monday to Friday.
|
(a) Do you have an accumulated Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) debt?
Answer yes if you have an accumulated HELP debt.
Answer no if you do not have an accumulated HELP debt, or you have repaid your HELP debt in full.
|
You have a HELP debt if:
- the Australian Government lends you money under HECS-HELP, FEE-HELP, OS-HELP, VET FEE-HELP or SA-HELP
- you have a debt from the previous Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS).
|
|
For information about repaying your HELP debt:
|
(b) Do you have an accumulated Financial Supplement debt?
Answer yes if you have an accumulated Financial Supplement debt.
Answer no if you do not have an accumulated Financial Supplement debt, or you have repaid your Financial Supplement debt in full.
|
For information about repaying your Financial Supplement debt:
|
When you have repaid your accumulated HELP or Financial Supplement debt, you need to complete a new Withholding declaration (NAT 3093) notifying your payer of the change in your circumstances.
|
Sign and date the declaration
Make sure you have answered all the questions in section A then sign and date the declaration. Give your completed declaration to your payer to complete section B.
|
The following information will help you comply with your pay as you go (PAYG) withholding obligations.
|
Is your employee entitled to work in Australia?
It is a criminal offence to knowingly or recklessly allow someone to work, or to refer someone for work, where that person is from overseas and is either in Australia illegally or is working in breach of their visa conditions.
People or companies convicted of these offences may face fines and/or imprisonment. To avoid penalties, ensure your prospective employee has a valid visa to work in Australia before you employ them. For more information and to check a visa holder's status online, visit the Department of Immigration and Citizenship website at immi.gov.au
|
If you withhold amounts from payments, or are likely to withhold amounts, the payee may give you this form with section A completed. A TFN declaration applies to payments made after the declaration is provided to you. The information provided on this form is used to determine the amount of tax to be withheld from payments based on the PAYG withholding tax tables we publish. If the payee gives you another declaration, it overrides any previous declarations.
Where the payee indicates at question 1 on this form that they have applied for an individual TFN, or enquired about their existing TFN, they have 28 days to give you their TFN. You must withhold tax for 28 days at the standard rate according to the PAYG withholding tax tables. After 28 days, if the payee has not given you their TFN, you must then withhold the top rate of tax plus the Medicare levy (or the top rate of tax if they are not an Australian resident for tax purposes) from future payments, unless we tell you not to.
- notify us within 14 days of the start of the withholding obligation by completing as much of the payee section of the form as you can. Print 'PAYER' in the payee declaration and lodge the form - see 'Lodging the form'.
- withhold the top rate of tax plus Medicare levy (or the top rate of tax if they are not an Australian resident for tax purposes) from any payment to that payee.
You need to lodge TFN declarations with us within 14 days after the form is either signed by the payee or completed by you (if not provided by the payee). You need to retain the payer's copy for your records. For information about storage and disposal refer to Storing and disposing of TFN declarations.
You may lodge the information:
- online - lodge your TFN declaration reports using software that complies with our specifications. There is no need to complete section B of each form as the payer information is supplied by your software.
- by paper - complete section B and send the original to us within 14 days.
If you make a super contribution for your payee, you need to give your payee's TFN to their super fund on the day of contribution, or if the payee has not yet quoted their TFN, within 14 days of receiving this form from your payee.
Storing and disposing of TFN declarations
Under the TFN guidelines in the Privacy Act 1988, you must use secure methods when storing and disposing of TFN information. You may store electronic files of scanned forms as an alternative to storing paper forms. Scanned forms must be clear and not altered in any way.
If a payee:
- submits a new TFN declaration (NAT 3092), you must retain a copy of the earlier form for the current and following financial year.
- has not received payments from you for 12 months, you must retain a copy of the last completed form for the current and following financial year.
You may incur a penalty if you do not:
- lodge TFN declarations with us
- keep the payer copy of completed TFN declarations for your records
- provide the payee's TFN to their super fund where the payee quoted their TFN to you.
Privacy of information
We are authorised by the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 and TAA 1953 to ask for information on this declaration. We need this information to help us administer those laws.
Where we are authorised by law to do so, we may give this information to other government agencies. These agencies could include Department of Human Services, Australian Federal Police, Departments of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Veterans' Affairs, and Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.
Only certain people and organisations can ask for your TFN. These include employers, some Australian Government agencies, trustees for super funds, payers under the PAYG system, higher education and vocational education and training (VET) providers and investment bodies such as banks. We are authorised by the Taxation Administration Act 1953 to collect your TFN. You are not required by law to provide your TFN. However, quoting your TFN reduces the risk of administrative errors and having extra tax withheld.
If you need more information about how the tax laws protect your personal information, or have any concerns about how we have handled your personal information, phone 13 28 61 between 8.00am and 6.00pm, Monday to Friday.
If you have privacy concerns, visit privacy.gov.au
More information
- More information about residency, tax-free threshold, HELP, Financial Supplement debt or your entitlement to claim tax offsets is available on our website.
- If you are a permanent migrant or temporary visitor to Australia, apply for a TFN online at iar.ato.gov.au
- Payee - for more information, phone 13 28 61 between 8.00am and 6.00pm, Monday to Friday. If you want to vary your rate of withholding, phone 1300 360 221 between 8.00am and 6.00pm, Monday to Friday.
- Payer - for more information, phone 13 28 66 between 8.00am and 6.00pm, Monday to Friday.
If you do not speak English well and need help from the ATO, phone the Translating and Interpreting Service on 13 14 50.
If you are deaf, or have a hearing or speech impairment, phone the ATO through the National Relay Service (NRS) on the numbers listed below:
- TTY users, phone 13 36 77 and ask for the ATO number you need (if you are calling from overseas, phone +61 7 3815 7799)
- Speak and Listen (speech-to-speech relay) users, phone 1300 555 727 and ask for the ATO number you need (if you are calling from overseas, phone +61 7 3815 8000)
- internet relay users, connect to the NRS on relayservice.com.au and ask for the ATO number you need.
If you would like further information about the National Relay Service, phone 1800 555 660 or email helpdesk@relayservice.com.au
If you phone we need to know we're talking to the right person before we can discuss your tax affairs. We'll ask you for details only you, or someone you've authorised, would know. An authorised contact is someone who you've previously told us can act on your behalf.
You can get the following forms and publications from our shopfronts, refer to Order Tax Office products online or phone 1300 720 092 (some products are also available from most newsagents):
Last Modified: Friday, 1 March 2013
|