Visas Data Matching Program with ATO and from DIBP– October 2015 to 2022–23 financial years
In line with the Australian government’s goal to provide an accurate and updated data of all persons in the country for both economic and social development, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has just announced that all visa holders in Australia would have their data released to the ATO by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP). This data matching program would include all visa holders from the following financial years – 2017-2018, 2018-2019 and 2019-2020.
This data-matching program follows the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s (OAIC) Guidelines on data matching in Australian Government administrationExternal Link (2014). The guidelines assist Australian Government agencies to use data-matching as an administrative tool in a way that complies with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act) and are consistent with good privacy practice.
What Information Will Be Collected By The ATO
The ATO went further to state that the following data information will be obtained from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection –
- Name of the visa subclass
- Address history of all the applicants and their sponsors
- Contact history of all the applicants and their sponsors
- All visa grants falling under the financial years above
- Status of all visa grants at the exact point in time when it was granted
- Names of the migration agent that facilitated the visa application process for the applicant
- Contact details of the migration agent that facilitated the visa application process for the applicant
- Address of the migration agent that facilitated the visa application process for the applicant
- All international travel movements carried out by the visa holders both arrivals and departures
- Details of the applicant’s sponsors
- Details of the education provider or institute where a student with a student visa is carrying out or intends to carry out their study
During the three year period of data collection, there will be about 20 million individuals whose data information will be collected by the ATO via an electronically matching process which will be synced to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. These information will be matched with the ATO tax server to ensure that there has been a total compliance with the tax obligation and superannuation laws of the country.
Purpose Of Undertaking This Data Matching Program
The aims of this data matching program are to –
- Ensure the promotion of voluntary compliance by visa holders, their sponsors as well as the host agent communities through proper education, enlightenment and engagement.
- Make sure that the visa holders comply with the relevant taxation and superannuation laws which requires a proper registration, lodgement, reporting and payment of taxation.
- Ensure that the Australia’s foreign investment rules are complied adhered to by the visa holders.
- Improve the standard of the taxation and superannuation system by ensuring that all registrations by ABN registrants who are not eligible are cancelled
- Identify upcoming or present fraud mechanisms as well as the elements that are in control or making use of this fraudulent system
- Test and identify the strengths and weaknesses of the risk detection technology models and also proffer solutions and practices towards making them solidified to achieve maximum risk detection and protection
- Support the development and implementation of various administrative systems and strategies to ensure that non – adherence to registration, lodgement, adequate and accurate reporting as well as the payment of taxation and superannuation obligations by various visa holders, their sponsors and other migration agents are carefully handled.
- Update the knowledge of the ATO’s taxation and superannuation risks within the population of the visa holders, their sponsors as well as the migration agents.
Data Elements Collected
Data will be collected from Home Affairs between 2020–21and 2022–23 financial years for:
- base population cohort of active visas meeting the criteria
- address history for visa applicants and sponsors
- contact history for visa applicants and sponsors
- all visa grants
- visa grant status by point in time
- migration agents (visa application preparer who assisted or facilitated the processing of the visa)
- address history for migration agents
- contact history for migration agents
- all international travel movements undertaken by visa holders (arrivals and departures)
- sponsor details
- visa subclass name
With this latest initiative, considering the level of detail being acquired coupled with data from Single Touch Payroll (STP) and Superannuation fund reporting, the ATO is enabled to apply a very sophisticated and highly-targeted approach to foster tax and superannuation compliance of individual employees and their employers.
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