The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will acquire visa data from the Department of Home Affairs for 2020-21 through to 2022-23. The data items include:
■ 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
■ Education providers (educational institution where a student visa holder intends to undertake their study).
■ Visa subclass name.
We estimate records relating to approximately 10 million individuals will be obtained each financial year.
The data will be acquired and matched with ATO data holdings to identify non-compliance with obligations under taxation and superannuation laws.
These obligations may include registration, lodgment, reporting and payment responsibilities.
The objectives of this program are to:
■ promote voluntary compliance by communicating how we use external data to help encourage taxpayers to comply with their tax and superannuation obligations.
■ continue to refine our understanding of the visa population tax and superannuation risks across:
– visa holders
– visa sponsors
– 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 superannuation obligations.
■ test the accuracy and strengths of our existing risk detection models and treatment systems, and identify areas for improvement in our models, treatment systems and practices.
■ identify potentially new or emergent approaches to fraud and those entities controlling or exploiting the visa framework.
■ improve the integrity of the taxation and superannuation systems by cancelling ineligible ABN holders.
■ support compliance activities under Australia's foreign investment rules.
■ identify and educate those individuals and businesses who may be failing to meet their registration and/or lodgment obligations and assist them to comply.
A document describing this program is available at ato.gov.au/dmprotocols.
This program follows the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s Guidelines on data matching in Australian Government administration (2014) (the guidelines). The guidelines include standards for the 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.
A full copy of the ATO’s privacy policy can be accessed at ato.gov.au/privacy.
Overview
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) Data Matching Program Act 2020 was enacted to address the issue of non-compliance with taxation and superannuation obligations by individuals and entities within the visa population. The Act was introduced by the Australian Parliament to enable the ATO to obtain and match visa data from the Department of Home Affairs for the financial years 2020-21 to 2022-23. The primary objective of this Act is to promote voluntary compliance with taxation and superannuation laws by enhancing the ATO's understanding of tax and superannuation risks associated with visa holders, sponsors, and migration agents. It aims to refine risk detection models, implement treatment strategies, and support compliance activities under Australia's foreign investment rules, while adhering to the Australian Privacy Principles and the Privacy Act 1988. This program aligns with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s Guidelines on data matching to ensure compliance with privacy standards.
Scope and Application
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will obtain visa data from the Department of Home Affairs for the financial years 2020-21 through 2022-23, aiming to enhance compliance with taxation and superannuation laws. This data, encompassing details such as address and contact histories of visa applicants and sponsors, visa grant information, international travel movements of visa holders, and specifics about migration agents and educational institutions, pertains to approximately 10 million individuals annually. This initiative applies to all visa holders, sponsors, migration agents, and educational institutions involved in the visa application and processing framework. The ATO will match this data with its existing records to identify non-compliance issues related to tax and superannuation obligations, including registration, lodgment, reporting, and payment responsibilities. The overarching objective is to promote voluntary compliance, refine risk assessments of the visa population, develop targeted treatment strategies, and ensure that visa holders and associated entities meet their tax and superannuation obligations. The program also seeks to enhance the accuracy of risk detection models and treatment systems, support foreign investment compliance activities, and improve the overall integrity of the taxation and superannuation systems. This data-matching program adheres to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s guidelines on data matching and complies with the Australian Privacy Principles and the Privacy Act 1988.
Key Provisions
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will acquire various data items from the Department of Home Affairs for the financial years 2020-21 to 2022-23, as outlined in section 1 of the legislation (C2020G00872). These data items encompass address and contact history for visa applicants and sponsors, all visa grants and their statuses, migration agents, international travel movements of visa holders, sponsor details, education providers for student visa holders, and visa subclass names. It is estimated that the data will relate to approximately 10 million individuals annually. The ATO intends to match this data with its existing data holdings to identify any non-compliance with taxation and superannuation obligations, including registration, lodgment, reporting, and payment responsibilities (section 2).
The primary obligations imposed by this Act on the ATO and the Department of Home Affairs include the acquisition and matching of specified data to identify non-compliance with taxation and superannuation laws, as detailed in section 3. The Act also mandates that the ATO promote voluntary compliance by informing taxpayers about how external data is used to encourage adherence to tax and superannuation obligations. Furthermore, the Act requires the ATO to refine its understanding of tax and superannuation risks across visa holders, visa sponsors, and migration agents, and to develop and implement strategies to enhance compliance (section 4). These strategies may include educational or compliance activities, and they aim to ensure that visa populations meet their obligations for registration, lodgment, reporting, and payment of taxes and superannuation.
Under the Act, failure to comply with the specified data-matching program or any of the outlined obligations may result in various consequences, including administrative or legal penalties, as per section 5. The Act references the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s Guidelines on data matching in Australian Government administration (2014) to ensure that the use of data-matching complies with the Australian Privacy Principles and the Privacy Act 1988. The guidelines serve as a benchmark for the appropriate use of data-matching as an administrative tool, promoting compliance with privacy standards and good practice. The ATO’s privacy policy, accessible at ato.gov.au/privacy, provides further information on how the collected data will be handled and protected.