Thursday, April 16, 2009

You'll get mail. From the Tax Office.

Australians employed through labour hire firms are not only at at greater risk of losing their jobs that directly-employed Australians, they're now also far more likely to receive a letter from the Tax Office.

The Office revealed yesterday it will be requisitioning names from 34 labour hire firms and computer consultancies to match against individual taxpayer records.

Among the firms targeted will be Drake Australia, Hudson Global Resources and Manpower Services.

It is targeting these firms not because it believes that they are avoiding tax, but because it believes there is a higher-than-normal risk that their 30,000 clients are.

Where ABN numbers and amounts of tax paid do not match other data held by the Office it will write to the clients directly explaining that they have been identified as "potentially having difficulty passing the personal services income tests"...

The campaign, accompanied by enforcement actions follows earlier campaigns directed at buyers of luxury cars and high wealth individuals.

In a document lodged with the Privacy Commissioenr the Office says it will seek data relating to the past two financial years and will destroy it within 14 days of days of deciding to take no further action.

It says it anticipates full co-operation from each of the labour hire firms and believes the data is readily at hand.

The move comes as the Tax Office faces increasing pressure to deliver on Budget forecasts in the midst of an economic downturn.

The Treasury is finding revenue difficult to forecast this year and over estimated takings in its mid-year Budget update.