Tax on a 482 Visa: Residency, Rates and the Medicare Levy

The 482 visa tax rate depends on tax residency, not on the visa: a 482 holder who lives and works in Australia can be an Australian resident for tax purposes and then pays resident rates, which from 1 July 2026 are nil up to $18,200 and 15c for each dollar from there to $45,000. A 482 holder is also a temporary resident for tax, so they declare income earned in Australia but not most foreign income (ATO, Foreign and temporary residents, updated 3 June 2026). The first step is to give the employer a tax file number, applied for online through the ATO, because without one the employer must withhold 47% of each payment, or 45% for a foreign resident.

Is a 482 holder an Australian tax resident?

It can be. The ATO decides residency with its own tests, not with Home Affairs’ visa rules, so a temporary visa does not by itself make someone a foreign resident: the ATO says a temporary resident is also either a foreign resident or an Australian resident for tax. The tests themselves are set out on the ATO’s Your tax residency page, and a 482 holder who lives and works in Australia checks them there. A 482 holder is also a temporary resident while they, and any spouse, are not Australian residents within the meaning of the Social Security Act 1991, which means not an Australian citizen, a permanent resident or a protected Special Category visa holder (ATO, Foreign and temporary residents, updated 3 June 2026). A temporary resident declares income derived in Australia, capital gains on taxable Australian property and, in some cases, income from work done overseas while a temporary resident; other foreign income is not declared.

Which tax rates apply?

An Australian resident for tax purposes pays these rates on taxable income from 1 July 2026 (ATO, Tax rates – Australian resident, updated 13 August 2026):

These rates exclude the 2% Medicare levy. At the Core Skills Income Threshold, a full-year resident earning $79,423 pays $14,346.90 in income tax before offsets, plus $1,588.46 in Medicare levy if not exempt.

Foreign residents pay different rates with no tax-free threshold: for 2025–26 the rate was 30c for each $1 up to $135,000 (ATO, Tax rates – foreign resident, updated 1 June 2026). The ATO had not published the 2026–27 foreign-resident table when this guide was checked on 24 September 2026.

What does the employer withhold?

An employer withholds tax from each pay of a 482 worker and pays super on top:

• PAYG withholding comes out of each pay at the rates in the ATO’s tax tables.
• Residency matters for withholding: the ATO’s tax tables withhold at different rates from resident and foreign-resident payees, so the employer needs the worker’s residency status.
• No TFN quoted: with no TFN and no exemption claimed, the employer withholds 47% from a resident or 45% from a foreign resident (ATO, Weekly tax table, payments from 1 July 2026).
• Super guarantee: the employer pays 12% super guarantee into a super fund, and under Payday Super from 1 July 2026 it must reach the fund within 7 business days of each payday (ATO, Super guarantee).

How much Medicare levy does a 482 holder pay?

A 482 holder who is a resident for tax purposes pays a Medicare levy of 2% of taxable income (ATO, What is the Medicare levy?, updated 30 April 2026). A 482 holder who is a foreign resident for tax purposes does not pay it, and claims an exemption for the days in the income year they were a foreign resident. A holder who is not entitled to Medicare claims the exemption with a Medicare Entitlement Statement, which Services Australia issues; the guide to 482 visa Medicare explains the exemption and the statement.

Tax file numbers

A 482 holder gets a tax file number from the ATO in four steps (ATO, Permanent migrants and temporary visitors – TFN application, updated 22 June 2026):

What happens to your super when you leave?

After leaving Australia, once the visa has ended, a former 482 holder claims their super as a departing Australia superannuation payment (DASP), online and free (ATO, Departing Australia superannuation payment, updated 21 April 2026). For someone who was not a working holiday maker, the taxed element of the taxable component is taxed at 35% and the untaxed element at 45%; the tax-free component is not taxed. Super not claimed is transferred to the ATO once 6 months have passed since departure and the visa has ended. The guide on how to claim your super when you leave Australia covers the application and the documents.

Common mistakes

1. Using the foreign-resident table because the visa is temporary. Residency is decided by the ATO’s tests, not by the visa, and a temporary resident can be an Australian resident for tax (ATO, Foreign and temporary residents).
2. Claiming the Medicare levy exemption for not being entitled to Medicare without a Medicare Entitlement Statement (ATO, Not entitled to Medicare benefits).
3. Not giving the employer a TFN. Withholding rises to 47%, or 45% for a foreign resident (ATO tax tables, payments from 1 July 2026).
4. Declaring foreign income a temporary resident does not have to declare, or leaving out Australian income that must be declared (ATO, Foreign and temporary residents).
5. Counting super toward the 482 salary threshold. Super guarantee contributions are not earnings for the Core Skills and Specialist Skills income thresholds (Migration Regulations 1994, regulation 2.57A(4)).
6. Leaving Australia without claiming super. After 6 months it is transferred to the ATO as unclaimed super (ATO, DASP).

Supplementary: 482 conditions, and the 482 cost

Tax sits beside the 482’s own charges and its salary floor. The salary a nomination guarantees is tested before tax and without super: under regulation 2.57A of the Migration Regulations 1994, super guarantee contributions and payments that cannot be worked out in advance are not earnings. The subclass 482 visa guide covers the visa’s criteria and conditions, and the 482 visa fee guide sets out the government charges the worker and the employer pay.

An Australian migration lawyer makes a 482 more likely to succeed here because the salary a nomination must guarantee is tested on “earnings” as the Migration Regulations define them, which leave out super guarantee contributions and payments that cannot be determined in advance, so a package that looks compliant before tax can still fall below the Core Skills Income Threshold of $79,423 or the market salary rate. A registered tax agent, not a migration lawyer, prepares the tax return itself.