I am an Australian resident for tax purposes (have lived here for many years and have no plans to go anywhere else). My employer is a New Zealand company, who I work for fully remotely. I am paid in AUD.
I have a signed contract from them that states I am treated as a contractor from their end in NZ. However, according to everything I can find on the ATO website, stating I am a contractor is meaningless because I am legally an employee (I work a regular 40 hours per week for them, I only work for them, I do not have my own company etc). I do not have an ABN, I have never had one, and I do not believe I need one.
Every fortnight, I receive my full income + super (paid as though I was a contractor), so I have to manually deal with my tax and super. I pay my tax quarterly through PAYG, and manually put my super into my fund once a month. They do not withhold tax, they do not pay anything directly into my super account, they believe, since I am a "contractor", the above is perfectly normal.
When I was first employed 1.5 years ago, they said eventually they'd move me to being an employee once their Australian entity was set up. Paying me as a contractor was the only thing they could do to employ me until then. A year later, they were advised by their accountant to keep me as a contractor instead of turning me into an employee. Recently, their Australian entity was set up, but since that date I am still paid the same.
This is my only source of income, so I do not want to get anyone into trouble or force my employer to do something that could result in them needing to terminate me. Could someone please help me understand:
a) What are their legal obligations regarding tax and super?
b) What are my tax & super implications if I continue without an ABN?
c) What are my tax & super implications if I get an ABN now after 1.5 years of working for them?
Thank you!
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