Employment growth rebate for payroll tax

A payroll tax rebate of up to $20,000 is available to eligible employers who can demonstrate over a full financial year that they have employed more than their level of full-time employees.

The rebate is:

• available from 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2021
• claimed per employer, per year
• calculated as part of the annual return.

The public ruling on the employment growth rebate (PTAQ000.4) has more information, including examples of when the rebate does and does not apply.

The subsidy component of the Australian Government JobKeeper payment is not taxable for payroll tax.

What you need to do

If you want to claim the rebate in the 2019-20 annual return, you need to keep the following records:

• A baseline total of all Queensland full-time positions as at 1 July 2019. These positions
  • are filled by an employee, other than a person deemed to be an employee under the Payroll Tax Act 1971 (i.e. contractor or worker providing services under an employment-agent arrangement), who is either paid Queensland taxable wages or wages that are partially or fully exempt from payroll tax under the Act
  • have responsibilities that require, on average, at least 35 hours of work per week for the employer.
• Monthly employee counts on the last day of each month in the 2019-20 financial year. A monthly employee count is the total, as at the last day of each month, of all persons who are paid Queensland taxable wages in the month. It must
  • include all employees and persons deemed to be employees under the Act
  • exclude all employees, and persons deemed to be employees, whose wages are wholly exempt from payroll tax in Queensland.

Also consider...

• Read about apprentice and trainee wages for payroll tax.
• Understand payroll tax rates and thresholds.
• Find out about exemptions for contractors and employment agents.
• Understand which payments are included as taxable wages.
• Know when to report a change in business conditions.
• Read about record keeping for tax purposes.