Tax File Number

When you can apply

You can only apply once you're physically in Australia and your visa is in effect. The ATO checks your application against your immigration record, so a visa that hasn't activated yet will get rejected.

If you're still at home counting down to your flight, there's nothing to submit yet, but you can have everything ready: passport in hand, visa grant details saved somewhere you can find them, and a plan for where your TFN letter will be posted once you land. The moment you arrive and your visa is active, you're good to go.

What you need

The application asks for a handful of things, so have these ready:

• Your passport (number, country of issue, expiry date)
• Your visa subclass and grant number (417 Working Holiday or 462 Work and Holiday)
• An Australian postal address where your TFN letter will be sent
• An Australian mobile number, or a mobile from any country
• A valid email address

On the postal address: the ATO posts your TFN letter, it doesn't email or text it. A hostel address works fine for this and plenty of people use one without issue. The one thing to get right is timing. Use an address where you'll still be when the letter arrives, because if you move on first you'll miss it. A lost letter can't be re-sent, only reissued, which means waiting all over again. So if you're about to switch hostels or cities, use the address you'll actually be at.

How to apply

You apply online through the ATO's Individual Auto Registration (IAR). It's the only route for working holiday visa holders now, there's no in-person option to worry about.

1. Go to the ATO's TFN application page for foreign passport holders, permanent migrants and temporary visitors, and start the application.
2. Enter your passport details exactly as they appear in your passport.
3. Enter your visa details. The ATO verifies these against your immigration record, so make sure your visa is active before you start.
4. Add your Australian postal address, mobile number, and email.
5. Check everything and submit. You'll get a confirmation receipt with a reference number straight away. Keep it. If anything goes wrong later, that number is how you follow up.

The ATO then posts your TFN to the address you gave. Officially this takes up to 28 days. In practice most people get it within one to three weeks. Regional addresses and holiday periods can add time.

You can start work before it arrives

You don't have to wait for your TFN to start a job. When you start work, your employer gives you a Tax File Number declaration to fill in. You have 28 days to provide your TFN on it. As long as you do that within the window, you're taxed normally from day one. Miss the 28 days and your employer has to withhold at 45% until you supply it.

Two things to get right on that declaration:

• Select Working Holiday Maker as your status. Different tax rates apply to working holiday makers, and your employer needs to know to tax you correctly.
• Claim the tax-free threshold on your main job. This exempts the first chunk of your income from tax. If you pick up a second job, only claim it on the higher-paying one, otherwise you risk under-paying tax and owing it back later.

One more thing worth checking: your employer should be registered with the ATO as an employer of working holiday makers. If they are, the first $45,000 you earn is taxed at 15%. If they're not registered, they have to tax you at the higher foreign resident rate. It's the employer's job to register, not yours, but it's a fair question to ask before you start.

TFN is not the same as an ABN

If you're an employee on a payroll, a TFN is all you need. An ABN (Australian Business Number) is for sole traders and contractors running their own business.

Some farm and hospitality jobs may try to put you on an ABN so they can treat you as a contractor rather than an employee. Be cautious. Being on an ABN when you're really working as an employee can cost you super and leave you sorting out your own tax. If a job asks you to get an ABN, it's worth understanding why before you agree.

And a safety note: only ever give your TFN to your employer (on the official declaration after you've started), the ATO, your bank, and a registered tax agent. Never put it in a job application or hand it over before you've actually started work. A legitimate employer won't ask for it upfront.

If it doesn't arrive or you lose it

If 28 days pass and nothing's turned up, call the ATO on 13 28 61 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm) and quote the receipt reference number from your application. If you need an interpreter, the ATO translation service is 13 14 50.

If you had a TFN from a previous trip and can't remember it, don't apply for a new one, you keep the same number for life. Check old payslips, a previous tax return, or super statements first. If it's nowhere, call 13 28 61 with your passport and visa details ready so they can confirm your identity.