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Payroll tax liability and taxable wages

Payroll tax on leave, allowances and benefits

JobKeeper payments are exempt from payroll tax.

Payroll tax can apply to payments made to employees in the form of leave, allowances and benefits.

The tables below list typical payments and if they are taxable.

Type	Liability
Accident pay	Taxable if you pay: wages for the day of injury an employee is away from work after an accident compensation for a work-related injury where the claim is not approved under the Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003
Australian Government Paid Parental Leave scheme	Not taxable
Holiday pay	Taxable
Jury service	Taxable
Leave loading	Taxable
Long service leave	Taxable
Make up pay	Taxable
Military leave	Not taxable
Parental, adoption and surrogacy leave	Not taxable for wages paid to a maximum of 14 weeks, or the equivalent amount if taken over a longer period
Sick leave	Taxable
Volunteer worker leave	Not taxable if the employee is: a volunteer member of a rural fire brigade a volunteer member of the State Emergency Service an honorary ambulance officer
Workers' compensation payment	Not taxable if it is a: compulsory payment insuring against accidental, work-related injuries WorkCover Queensland compensation payment

Type	Liability
Accommodation	Taxable for the part of the allowance over the exempt rate as long as it is used for overnight accommodation - this can also include meals and incidentals
Clothing	Taxable
Living away from home	Taxable in accordance with the Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986 (Cwlth)
Meals	Taxable
Motor vehicle	Taxable over the exempt component when you calculate the number of kilometres an employee travels for business purposes in their own car
Overtime	Taxable
Relocation	Taxable
Tool	Taxable

Type	Liability
Car parking fringe benefits	Not taxable
Cars	Taxable
Salary sacrifice arrangements	Taxable If in exchange for fringe benefits, the fringe benefits' grossed-up value is taxable. Otherwise, the entire sacrificed amount is taxable
Entertainment fringe benefits	Taxable, if providing entertainment amounts to a fringe benefit (e.g. the cost of theatre tickets purchased by an employee and reimbursed by the employer) Tax-exempt body entertainment fringe benefits may be subject to fringe benefits tax but are specifically exempt for payroll tax purposes, so are not taxable.
Exempt benefits	Not taxable as of 1 July 2011
Fringe benefits	Taxable, unless it is a: car parking fringe benefit tax-exempt body entertainment fringe benefit. Valued using the Type 2 gross-up factor
Gifts	Taxable unless not related to employment services
Low-interest or interest-free loans	Taxable
Non-cash benefits	Taxable if they form or are defined as wages
Reimbursements	Not taxable unless a fringe benefit An expense payment fringe benefit may arise where an employer: reimburses an employee for expenses incurred by the employee pays a third party for the expenses incurred by the employee These expenses may be business or private expenses, or both

Office of State Revenue