Program overview
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) visa data-matching program has been operating since 2009. This protocol outlines our intention to continue collecting data on visas granted in the period 2020–21 to 2028–29 financial years.
For this program we collect information from the Department of Home Affairs on active and newly granted visas. The data is matched against our records to ensure visa holders, visa sponsors and migration agents are meeting their tax, super and foreign investment obligations.
The data collected under this program enables us to identify candidates for administrative action. This program will help to improve our existing risk detection models and treatment systems through the identification of entities controlling or exploiting potentially new or emerging approaches to fraud.
Visa data is made available to ATO compliance staff to support our risk profiling and trend analysis of the visa population. Smarter use of data helps improve our decisions, services and voluntary compliance. We have a responsibility to protect public revenue and to maintain community confidence in the integrity of the tax and superannuation systems.
Undertaking the Home Affairs visa data-matching program will assist us in investigating and taking steps to mitigate fraud against public revenue. This program will also assist in identifying and investigating instances of non-compliance in relation to foreign investment in Australian residential real estate.
Program objectives
Our data-matching programs help us fulfil our responsibility to protect public revenue and maintain community confidence in the integrity of the tax and superannuation systems.
The objectives of the visa data-matching program are to:
- help ensure that individuals and businesses are fulfilling 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, which may include educational or compliance activities as appropriate
- help ensure visa populations fulfil their registration, lodgment, 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.
Why we look at visa data
Travellers coming to Australia for travel, work, study or migration need a visa appropriate to their reason for travel. Visa conditions for foreign and temporary residents apply to a person’s stay in Australia, including engagement with the tax and superannuation systems.
The visa data-matching program will allow us to identify and address a number of tax risks including:
- helping process tax file number (TFN) registration for visa holders entering the country including tailored advice for TFN applicants' employers
- ensuring appropriate tax treatment is being applied by employers of visa holders including registration, lodgment, reporting and payment obligations for pay as you go (PAYG) withholding, fringe benefits tax and super guarantee
- determining if applicants departing Australia are entitled to access super
- identifying taxpayers who incorrectly claim Australian residency in their income tax returns for financial gain
- identifying incorrect tax refunds through pre-issue compliance work
- identifying and cancelling Australian business numbers (ABNs) obtained and used inappropriately by visa holders as contractors, when they should be classified as employees
- assessing ABN eligibility
- determining if a visa holder's visa class allows them to hold an ABN
- determining if an ABN should be cancelled if the ABN holder is no longer in the country
- supporting Foreign Investment Program compliance activities including
- identifying people who are no longer foreign persons according to Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 and using this data to update the Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets
- identifying the foreign person status of asset holders in Australia
- identifying foreign persons holding established residential dwellings contrary to the foreign investment rules
- ascertaining whether a foreign person has been onshore for 183 days or more to confirm statements in their lodged vacancy fee returns.
For more information on tax requirements for visa holders, see:
Continue to: Visa data
Return to: Department of Home Affairs visa –data-matching program protocol