Station Street in Box Hill Victoria. The ATO has been carrying out its cash economy campaigns in the local area full of cafes and restaurants. Credit:Stefan Postles Another 2813 complained about inadequate or no super being paid, 961 reported "payment summary issues", 736 complained that their employer failed to remit PAYGW, and 671 complained about the "status of worker" (whether they are legally an employee or independent contractor). The figures provided to Fairfax Media were obtained under Freedom of Information request by the Tax Justice Network. It comes after a recent Fairfax investigation revealed hundreds of thousands of workers across the economy being exploited on low wages. Tax Justice Network spokesman Mark Zirnsak said the ATO's data was just the "tip of the iceberg of shady employers who cheat their employees of the wages they are owed and cheat the community of the taxes that should be paid". ATO audits cafes, hair & beauty salons

The ATO estimates about 1.6 million businesses (mostly micro and small businesses with an annual turnover up to $15 million) operating across 233 industries are part of the illegal cash economy. ATO Assistant Commissioner Matthew Bambrick says reviews and audits of businesses are taking place. Credit:Glenn Hunt The Tax Office has in recent years stepped up audits of small businesses in high-risk industries – ones it most suspects of participating in the illegal cash economy. These include cafes and restaurants, carpentry and electrical services, hair, beauty and nail specialists, building trades, road freight and waste skip operators and cleaners. In 2015-2016 the agency monitored 127,000 cash economy businesses, conducted 15,000 audits and enforcement activities and raised over $208 million in tax and penalties. Aside from audits, the agency has also increased its data matching of these industries and undertaken visits of high-risk industries.

Assistant Commissioner Matthew Bambrick said the agency had monitored hundreds of restaurants and cafes and hair and beauty salons in Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and the Gold Coast. Mr Bambrick said the ATO was currently conducting a number of reviews and audits following the country-wide visits including: In July and August 2014 about 40 ATO officers – including staff who speak Cantonese, Mandarin and Thai – visited 170 businesses in Sydney's Haymarket restaurant and cafe area to remind them of their tax and super obligations. The Haymarket visits were followed by 43 audits, over 30 of which resulted in adjustments of over $8.2 million.

In April last year it undertook more than 300 visits in Adelaide's CBD – again of the restaurant and cafe sector. It found businesses were not correctly registered. About 20 per cent had at least one outstanding activity statement and 25 per cent had at least one overdue income tax return.

In October last year it conducted 130 visits in the restaurant and cafe sector in Box Hill in Victoria. Five businesses were not correctly registered and about 24 per cent had at least one outstanding activity statement.

In March and April this year it undertook 250 visits of Gold Coast-based cafes and hair and beauty salons. Tax gap up to $3 billion? While the cash economy risk has been identified, the ATO does not have a robust estimate of the level of revenue at risk from the cash economy.

Earlier this year the ATO's public groups deputy commissioner Jeremy Hirschhorn hinted that for the large market tax gap alone there was "an implied range" of "about $2 billion to $3 billion". This was based partly on comparisons between Australian data and analysis done in the Britain. A recent Australian National Audit Office report called on the ATO to publish an annual estimate of the revenue at risk from the cash economy, which it had committed to doing this year. But the ATO's most recent annual report for 2015-16 did not contain a figure, with the agency telling Fairfax Media that it had delayed the release "as we found that methodological improvements and further data were required to ensure that the gap estimates were as robust and accurate as possible". Loading "It has always been our position that releasing gap estimates should not be driven by a defined date but rather based on when the estimates are sufficiently credible for public release," an ATO spokesman said.