Govt agencies asked to find payroll links

All federal government agencies have been told to search their records for any links to an alleged $165 million tax fraud.

Plutus Payroll is the company at the centre of one of Australia's biggest suspected white-collar crimes.

A Senate committee heard on Tuesday at least nine IT contractors employed through labour hire companies by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet used the services of Plutus.

The finance department advised all government departments by email on Monday to provide it with information by the end of this week about other contractors who may have used Plutus.

The committee was told there was no estimate of how much money was involved.

DPMC deputy secretary Elizabeth Kelly said the head of her department Martin Parkinson had been informed by the tax commissioner about the issuing of search warrants on May 15, before news broke of the investigation and charges.

Dr Parkinson was concerned about the impact on public trust and confidence in the Australian Taxation Office and the prime minister was advised on a media statement.

It was later found that the DPMC itself had contracts with labour hire firms which had contractors who used the Plutus system.

The contractors had been advised to shift to another payroll provider.