ATO data matching: Subcontractors and Taxable Payment Annual Reports

As seen in Woopi News October 2026

Taxable Payment Annual Reports (TPAR) are reports that businesses within specific industries must lodge to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to report payments made to contractors and subcontractors. These industries include building and construction, cleaning, courier and road freight, information technology (IT) and security, investigation & surveillance.

The TPAR report includes the following details: name, address and Australian Business Number (ABN), total amounts paid, and any Goods and Services Tax (GST) included in the payments. They must be lodged by 28th August each year, reporting on payments made in the financial year preceding it.

The ATO have recently begun to prefill TPAR information into individual tax returns; to aid in data matching and ensure contractors and subcontractors are including this income. The ATO will data match between the information reported in the tax return, and the total TPAR amounts that have been reported attached to their ABN. Where the income does not agree to or exceed the amount that has been reported, a review will most likely be triggered and could lead to an audit. Businesses need to ensure that they are lodging accurate TPAR data for contractors and subcontractors to minimise the risk of a data mismatch and possible audit.

The data matching is also expected to assist with catching out employers incorrectly engaging workers as subcontractors, particularly where the majority or all of the subcontractor’s ABN income is coming from one business and is solely for their labour. If paid on a sole trader ABN, in many instances the subcontractor is entitled to superannuation guarantee at 12% of earnings net of any GST charged. Businesses who are still paying workers solely for labour on a sole trader ABN, need to ensure that they are paying superannuation guarantee for the subcontractor under the new payday super regime. Businesses can be penalised for incorrectly classifying workers as subcontractors and should obtain advice and review their subcontractor arrangements and make changes, if necessary, to minimise risk of an audit.