Employee declared himself as an Australian resident for tax purposes while being on WHM

 Author: PayrollDeanne(Taxicorn)Taxicorn

20 May 2025

Hiya @Milou 👋

As part of recruitment or hiring of employees, you have to confirm that they have a Right to Work in Australia, part of establishing their legal identity. That would reveal their visa as a WHM.

In your case, the employee didn't declare themselves as a WHM on the TFN Declaration. Luckily, the STP pay event you send to the ATO includes information about how you are taxing your employees. The ATO has information from Home Affairs and knows that your worker is a WHM.

You must ask the employee to complete a Withholding Declaration to provide the correct information. The ATO has detailed guidance to assist your employee to get it right. They also have a handy Tax Residency Tool to assist them and guidance on what steps to take if they are an Australian Resident. But those are steps for the employee to take if they want to vary the withholding.

The ATO has informed you they are a WHM and you must action that in your payroll ASAP, which is why your employee must be advised of the above steps. Regardless, you must action the ATO advice.

Deanne