Coronavirus payroll tax relief

Payroll tax relief measures have been introduced to alleviate the impacts of coronavirus (COVID-19).

Hospitality and tourism sector - deferred payment 2021

If you are a business operating in the hospitality or tourism sector and lodge payroll tax returns monthly, you can apply to defer paying your liability for July 2021 for 6 months. If you have paid your July return liability, the deferral will be applied to your August return.

The deferral will only apply to 1 month.

No refunds are available if these July and August returns are paid.

Eligibility criteria

To qualify for the 2021 deferral, your business must:

• pay payroll tax in Queensland
• operate in the hospitality or tourism sector (check your ANZSIC code)
• lodge payroll tax returns monthly
• have been negatively impacted by COVID-19 lockdowns in Queensland
• apply no later than 30 September 2021 using the online form.

If you have applied for payroll tax registration in Queensland and are waiting on confirmation from us, we will contact you about your eligibility for the deferral. You must have applied for payroll tax registration on or before 30 September 2021.

What you need to do

• Check you meet the eligibility criteria.
• Make sure your service email address is correct in OSR Online. All correspondence about this deferral will go to that address. See how to update your details.
• Lodge your return on or before the due date. (If you haven't lodged your July return yet, lodge it now.)
• Apply using the online form.

How to apply

Complete the online form to apply to defer payment.

Apply to defer payment

Once approved, make sure your return is lodged in OSR Online to activate the deferral.

What happens next

The deferral will only be applied to approved applications after the return is lodged. It could take up to 5 days for the new payment date to appear in OSR Online after you’ve lodged that return.

If you have not heard from us within 5 business days of applying, contact us on 1300 300 734.

If you are approved to defer this payment, interest will not apply on that payment so long as you lodge your return on time and pay by the deferred date.

• If you are approved to defer your July payment
  You must lodge your July return now and pay the liability for that return no later than 7 February 2022.
• If you are approved and have paid your July payment
  Your August payment will be deferred.
  You must lodge your August return by 7 September and pay the liability for that return no later than 7 March 2022.

Deferred payments 2020

If you were approved to defer paying payroll tax for 2020 returns (due March - December 2020), you would have a confirmation email.

You must pay your payroll tax liability by the deferred due date, shown in the table and in your year-to-date returns in OSR Online.

You can resume paying returns at any time during the deferral period.

Example

ABC Pty Ltd lodges returns monthly and was approved to defer payments (for COVID-19).

By 7 October 2021, ABC must:

• lodge the September 2021 return
• pay the liability for September 2021
• pay its deferred liability for these returns
  • May 2020 periodic
  • 2019-20 annual
  • September 2020 periodic.

Due dates for 2020 returns

This table shows the lodgement and deferred payment due dates (for return periods for March to December 2020 only) if your application was approved.

From January 2021, you need to lodge and pay returns by the standard due dates (unless approved to defer July or August 2021 payment).

Other relief measures

Other relief measures introduced in 2020 are no longer available. They included a payroll tax holiday and refunds for particular months.

The refunds and holiday relief do not have to be repaid.

Also consider...

• See more information about coronavirus (COVID-19).
• Find out about JobKeeper and payroll tax.