Migrants are more than holding their own when it comes to the nation’s bottom line with newcomers to Australia contributing as much or more in tax than native-born Australians, new data shows.

An Australian Bureau of Statistic report on migrant taxpayers shows they earned $84 billion in total taxable personal income in 2013-14, an increase of 7 per cent on 2012-13.

And the median employee income of migrant taxpayers in 2013-14 was $48,400 – higher than the median for all taxpayers of $45,700.

The majority share of this income was reported by Skill stream migrants who make up 60 per cent of all migrants to Australia.

Almost two-thirds of migrant taxpayers held a Skill stream visa (64 per cent). A further 29 per cent were Family stream migrants, 5% were Humanitarian migrants and less than 3 per cent held a Provisional visa.

Most migrant taxpayers’ personal income was employee income ($76 billion or 90 per cent). This represented a 5.9 per cent increase in real terms on this group’s total Employee income in 2012-13.

And the number of migrant taxpayers in 2013-14 increased by 6.1 per cent compared with migrant taxpayers in 2012-13.

This represents a one per cent increase in real terms on median migrant employee income in 2012-13.

Skill stream migrant taxpayers had the highest median Employee income at $55,400.

Humanitarian migrants and those who held a Provisional visa had the lowest median Employee incomes, with $34,000 and $22,800 respectively.

According to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) migration statistics, 2.2 million permanent visas were granted to migrants between 1 July 2000 and 30 June 2014.

Although levels fluctuated from year to year throughout this period, migrants who entered Australia were predominantly from the Skill stream, representing almost two thirds of permanent migrants. A further 31 per cent were Family migrants and 9 per cent were Humanitarian migrants.

Almost 70 per cent of all permanent migrant taxpayers indicated that they had held a Temporary visa prior to becoming a permanent resident, the report said.

Almost all migrant taxpayers with a Provisional visa held a Temporary visa prior to a permanent visa.

Almost three-quarters of Skill stream migrants held a Temporary visa prior to a permanent visa and almost two-thirds of Family stream migrants held a Temporary visa prior to a permanent visa, the report said.

One in six Humanitarian migrants held a Temporary visa prior to a permanent visa.

Family stream migrant taxpayers who previously held a Temporary visa experienced a positive effect on their median Employee income ($39,700 for those who had previously held a temporary visa compared with $35,900 for those who had not), the ABS report said.

Skill stream migrant taxpayers who previously held a Temporary visa reported slightly higher median employee income than those who were permanent residents on arrival ($53,500 compared with $52,600).

But prior residency status had little impact on the median employee income of Humanitarian and Provisional migrants (differences of $200 or less).

Laurie Nowell
AMES Australia Senior Journalist