Bilal Jivraj’s Recommendations to the Industry
ALITAX · Bilal Jivraj — Registered Tax Agent 25287564. Original guidance from 10+ years of DASP and tax casework.
After more than a decade helping departing workers, Bilal Jivraj has seen where the system works — and where it lets people down. These are his respectful recommendations to the organisations that shape the DASP and tax experience for expats. They are offered constructively, in the hope of making the process fairer and safer for people who have contributed to Australia and are now far from home.
Stronger identity checks. Some funds have very low security — releasing a large payment on a certified passport copy alone. In some countries almost anyone can produce a “certified” copy, and with modern AI tools a convincing fake can be made in seconds. This is a person’s hard-earned money. At ALITAX, we recommend funds add a video call with the client and sight the original ID alongside the certified copy before releasing funds.
More payment options. At ALITAX, we recommend all funds support multiple currencies and international bank transfers, to make receiving a DASP far easier for clients who no longer have an Australian bank account.
Keep accounts open for departing clients. Banks are often quick to close accounts when someone leaves Australia — but this makes claiming a DASP much harder, because EFT to an Australian account is the fastest, simplest payment method. At ALITAX, we recommend banks offer a way to keep an account open specifically to receive a final DASP and tax refund.
Identity checks. At the same time, banks should apply proper identity checks to guard against scams involving people who have left Australia.
More flexibility on ATO-held super transfers. It is currently very hard — sometimes impossible — to claim ATO-held super if your country cannot accept an Australian-dollar cheque. This affects clients in South Africa, parts of Pakistan, some states of India, parts of Bangladesh, and Nepal (where major banks often will not process foreign cheques), among many others. At ALITAX, we recommend the ATO either pay ATO-held super directly to a client’s overseas account, or allow trusted registered tax agents to receive the funds with the client’s written authority and arrange the international transfer.
Faster response times. In some cases the ATO takes over 12 months to release funds. We ask that expats are not forgotten in the queue.
Get the name right on cheques. Many countries require a person’s complete legal name to deposit a cheque, but cheques are sometimes issued with only a first and last name — making them impossible to bank. We ask that the ATO confirm the client’s full, correct name before issuing a cheque.
Please revise the DASP tax rates for former residents. Super is already taxed at around 15% inside the fund, and along the way clients also pay administration fees and insurance premiums (life, total & permanent disability, income protection) — cover that a departing worker can almost never actually claim or benefit from. Then a further DASP tax applies on withdrawal.
We respectfully ask the Government to consider whether this level of tax is fair on people who contributed to the Australian economy and are simply reclaiming their own retirement savings on leaving.
As the regulator of super funds, we recommend APRA ensure all funds comply with their obligation to transfer a client’s money within the expected timeframe (generally 28 days) once identity is verified. At ALITAX we have seen funds take far too long and communicate poorly with clients after they have departed. Better oversight here would protect thousands of vulnerable people.
At ALITAX, we recommend the TPB ensure every client receives a clear, signed summary of what they are being charged — the tax agent fee covering both super and tax, confirmation that funds will pass through the agent’s trust account, and a full breakdown of the refund and super. Too many clients, some with little or no English, are charged without understanding how much they paid.
We have found cases where people did not even know their tax refund had been claimed by an agent. Some “express refund” operators advertise heavily, pick up clients, and lodge everything without proper acknowledgement or approval from the client.
We ask the TPB to intervene where they see fraud affecting former residents, who are in a particularly vulnerable position — often with limited English and no idea how to lodge a complaint.