How AgCore handles Tax File Numbers
How AgCore handles employee Tax File Numbers for farm payroll: pending declarations, encrypted and audited access, and destruction after payroll transfer.
A Tax File Number passes through AgCore once for payroll
A worker can quote their Tax File Number (TFN) in the employment eForm. AgCore keeps it with the accepted Submission so an authorised payroll person can carry the number into the farm's payroll system. This is a one-time pass-through, not an ongoing payroll sync.
The Compliance PDF does not print the number. It records the worker's TFN declaration state instead, keeping the payroll identifier out of the signed employment record.
AgCore checks the number's format and checksum, but it does not verify the worker's identity or ownership of the number with the ATO. The employer remains responsible for checking the declaration and using the number lawfully.
When the worker is waiting for a TFN
A worker who has applied for a TFN can complete the eForm with a Pending TFN declaration. The Australian Taxation Office says they then have 28 days to give the number to their employer. Its TFN declaration guidance explains what the employer must do if the number still has not arrived after that period.
AgCore keeps the due date visible and reminds the worker and employer at day 15 and day 25. When the number arrives, the worker supplies it from their MyFarmJob account. Each farm that accepted the shared Submission then sees the update in its employee record.
The number stays masked until an authorised person asks for it
AgCore encrypts the TFN while it is held. Employer screens show only a masked value by default. A person needs permission to view sensitive employee data before they can reveal the number, and each reveal writes an access record naming who viewed it, when and where.
This keeps ordinary employee and Submission work separate from the one moment a payroll person needs the digits.
After payroll transfer, the TFN can be destroyed
Once the employer has entered the TFN in their payroll system, AgCore asks them to attest to that transfer before destruction. Destruction removes the number and any TFN letter from AgCore. It is irreversible.
A small tombstone remains so a later reviewer can see that the TFN was destroyed after payroll transfer, who performed the action and when. It does not retain the number.
If one eForm Submission covers several Organisations, they share the one TFN record. Destroying it removes the number for every accepted Organisation covered by that Submission. AgCore warns the employer about the other Organisations before they confirm.
The TFN Rule is the authority
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner's TFN Rule guidance says a TFN recipient must limit collection, use and disclosure to permitted purposes, protect the information, and take reasonable steps to securely destroy or permanently de-identify it when it is no longer required or necessary for a permitted purpose.
The binding source is the Privacy (Tax File Number) Rule 2015. AgCore provides the record and destruction controls; the employer remains responsible for deciding when their legal need to retain TFN information has ended. This page is product information, not legal advice.
Open AgCore
Already have a login? Open the Employment eForms tab in Agreements to review Submissions. The detailed guides for a pending TFN and destroying a TFN after payroll transfer stay inside the app beside the employee and Submission screens.
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