Most helpful replyATO Certified Response
Author: _KaraBATO(Community Support)Community Support ATO Certified Response5 Aug 2021
Hello @ayden_398
I'm sorry to hear that your employer did not withhold the correct amount of tax from you even though you completed your tax file number declaration correctly.
Your employer does not pay your HECS/HELP compulsory repayments.
They are supposed to withhold extra tax from you to contribute towards this tax liability each pay.
In your situation, rather than withholding the extra percentage, your employer paid it to you with each payslip.
This means that your employer does not have the lump sum to recontribute as they paid it to you.
Even though you advised your employer to withhold the extra amount in tax to cover your HECS/Help compulsory repayment, and they didn't, the obligation to make this payment still belongs to you.
You can check your employer is withholding the appropriate amount from you each pay using our Tax withheld for individuals calculator and matching the amount of tax withheld on your payslip.