Book Now Feeling worried that the new Australian Tax Office's (ATO) data matching scheme with the Dept of Immigration might affect you negatively because you've omitted to pay your taxes, claimed social security when you shouldn't have, or worked contrary to your visa conditions? Not sure if you've been doing the right thing or not?
The primary issue with the Data Matching Scheme is that the ATO may become privy to tax, bank, social security, health insurance and wages information (amongst others) relevant to you or your business, which it will then exchange with Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP). This information or data may indicate you've breached your visa conditions or that you haven't complied with your sponsorship obligations if say you're a 457 employer.
Social security fraud is also high up on the Australian government's agenda and the data matching already taking place between the ATO and Social security will also be provided to DIBP. It seems to me that if you've had a visa, or lodged a visa since 2013, you may well be caught in the ATO/DIBP data matching web if you've been naughty.
You'll find some important FAQ's about data matching below, but first, take a moment to have a look at the chart at the end of the post which will give you an idea of the extent of the information shared with the ATO from 3rd party sources – it's a pretty impressive web, and the ATO is a pretty big spider! (there's also an ATO video at the end).
Let's now examine some of the most common concerns and questions we've been hearing from our clients and readers since our blog post about the ATO Data Matching Scheme on Tuesday. (You'll find our post here). I'm calling these my Oh My God questions (OMGQ) because that's been the reaction of many of you, as for example in "Oh my God I forgot pay my taxes will they cancel my visa?".
OMGQ #1
I've been working on a tourist visa, will the ATO/DIBP find out because of data matching?
First up, no one should be working on a tourist visa as it provides no work conditions. Employers may be fined huge amounts for employing you and it is a ground for visa cancellation which comes with a bonus of a three year ban. Obviously you may be caught without data matching (think a DIBP raid of your work premises, detention, deportation + 3 year ban – it's not pretty). However – even if you do get away with it, your trusty employer of people without work conditions will ultimately have to account for wages on his BAS statements and annual tax return, which may arouse the suspicions of DIBP down the track By this time of course you've managed to get a 457 visa – which may well be up for cancellation because you haven't complied with the conditions of your first visa.
Your best course of action in this scenario is contact a Registered Migration agent to proceed to PR as soon as possible to avoid any no compliance issues.
OMGQ #2
I didn't really do my regional work for my second working holiday visa but I told DIBP that I did.
So you got an "employer" to certify that you'd worked your 88 days?
As with the above scenario either your alleged employer won't be able to show any remuneration has been paid and you won't be able to prove you've been paid. Now that there's no tax free threshold for working holiday makers it'll be even easier to catch those that fraudulently claim to have done your regional work. Also you can no longer volunteer, you must get paid for your regional work. And by the way, despite the common belief working in a country pub behind the bar does not constitute regional work. Despite what you might read on those forums.
If you're in this situation you may be caught by the fraud public interest criteria when applying for future visas. Your best bet is to speak to an Immigration Lawyer to asceratin what your future strategy should be. We won't even mention what could happen to the employer…. but it won't be pretty.
OMGQ #3
I've been working on my own ABN and I've forgotten to pay my taxes AND/OR haven't paid myself properly AND/OR haven't submitted any tax returns or BAS AND/OR haven't paid my employees what I was supposed to.
All I can say is that you didn't forget and it wasn't accidental, you're not stupid. You've been avoiding all of it or pretending no one told you. This is the type of stuff the data matching is really looking for. You know that civilised countries can't exist without your taxes and you must pay your workers what you promised them in their employment contract.
ABN's can be cancelled because of this type of behaviour. Sponsorships can be cancelled, visas cancelled, and before you know you/and/or your workers are back to wherever you left from with a three year ban if your visa has been cancelled. You need to get professional help as soon as possible. Fessing up with a proper plan backed by a tax expert may do the trick, but burying your head in the sand and hoping you won't be caught is a recipe for disaster. Call us …. as soon as you have a hand on a phone. We'll point you in the right directions – 03 9573 5200
OMGQ #4
I'm an Australian employer and I've been paying my foreign 457 workers cash, and I haven't been keeping records or providing payslips.
As an approved sponsor you must keep records of wages and produce payslips. It is likely data matching will pick this up via discrepancies between for example your BAS statement, Tax assessment, bank records and your workers tax assessments and bank records. On the face of it DIBP would regard this as "adverse information" against you which could result in your sponsorship approval being cancelled. This would prevent you sponsoring any more 457 workers or nominating your 457 workers for permanent residence. If your sponsorship was cancelled all your 457 workers visas would also be cancelled. The best thing you can do to rectify this or attempt to overcome the issues is to engage a tax accountant to assist you to produce accurate records of past financial events. We can assist with your compliance issues and refer you to a tax expert as well.
OMGQ # 5
I've been working full time on my student visa. What will happen?
It is likely data matching will find a discrepancy between the amount claimed for wages by your employer and the amount you claim you earned in your tax return and the relevant bank accounts. This is a ground for visa cancellation as you will have breached the work condition allowing you work for only 40 hours per fortnight during term time. Get hold of your migration agent asap so that you can work out a strategy to prevent visa cancellation.
OMGQ #6
My Australian partner and I have just lodged a Partner visa for me. She's getting single parent benefits for the child she had before she met me.
This is a really common scenario which we encounter all the time. Unfortunately you can't claim a single parent benefit (and some unemployment benefits) where you have a partner, and the government has specifically singled out this type of situation for analysis. It is likely in my view that all partner visa sponsors will be social security checked (by way of data matching) during the course of partner visa processing. Not only will this lead to sanctions for the social security fraud, but there could be legal repercussions for the partner visa application if the sponsor is claiming to be single for the purpose of social security payments but in a de facto relationship for the purpose of the visa application.
If this is your situation contact you migration agent or immigration lawyer to work out a strategy so that your partner visa application can proceed.
Worried? Need advice about your situation. Don't sit on a situation which may lead to serious visa/sponsor sanctions. We're here to help and can assist you to develop strategies to avoid or reduce sanctions. Australia Here We Come has migration agents and a migration lawyer on staff to provide expert specialised advice. We also have access to tax experts we can refer you to. Please contact us on 03 9573 5200 and book a consultation or book one here online.
Here is the chart I mentioned above showing all the 3rd party information that is exchanged with the ATO! Don't say I didn't warn you.
