The State Government has introduced a number of payroll tax concessions to support businesses affected by COVID-19 including the following:
- Payroll tax waiver
- Grant payment
- Threshold increase
- JobKeeper payments
Payroll tax waiver
If your Australian taxable wages were less than $5 million at 29 February 2020, your payroll tax will be waived for the March to June 2020 payroll tax returns. You will still need to complete your March to June payroll tax returns as normal. Then record your WA taxable wages in the ‘exempt (other) wages’ field to apply the waiver.
If your Australian taxable wages are more than $5 million at 29 February 2020 but you expect they will be less than $7.5 million at 30 June 2020 or you register for payroll tax after 1 March 2020 you must apply to defer lodging and paying your March to June payroll tax returns until July. If your wages are less than $7.5 million for the year then your payroll tax liability for March to June will be waived
Grant Payment
Employers, or a group of employers, whose Australian taxable wages were between $1 million and $4 million in 2018-19 will receive a one-off grant of $17,500. You do not need to apply for this grant, if you meet the criteria you will receive a cheque from July 2020.
If you recently registered for payroll tax then your 2019-20 Australian taxable wages will be used to determine your eligibility for the grant. The grant payment will be made once you have completed your 2019-20 annual reconciliation.
Threshold Increase
The payroll tax threshold will increase to $1 million on 1 July 2020.
JobKeeper payments Wages paid by employers that are subsidised by the Australian Government’s JobKeeper payment are exempt from payroll tax. The exemption does not apply to any part of wages that are not subsidised
Contact our office if you’d like some assistance or advice around these payroll tax concessions.
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Jobkeeper stimulus is the best yet
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Author: Jessica Russell
Email: jessica@faj.com.au
