Wages taxable in the ACT
11 Wages taxable in the ACT
For this Act, wages are taxable in the ACT if—
the wages are paid or payable by an employer in relation to services performed by an employee entirely in the ACT; or
the wages are paid or payable by an employer in relation to services performed by an employee in 2 or more Australian jurisdictions, or partly in 1 or more Australian jurisdictions and partly outside all Australian jurisdictions, and—
the employee is based in the ACT; or
if the employee is not based in an Australian jurisdiction—the employer is based in the ACT; or
if both the employee and employer are not based in an Australian jurisdiction—the wages are paid or payable in the ACT; or
if both the employee and employer are not based in an Australian jurisdiction and the wages are not paid or payable in an Australian jurisdiction—the wages are paid or payable in relation to services performed mainly in the ACT; or
the wages are paid or payable by an employer in relation to services performed by an employee entirely outside all Australian jurisdictions and are paid or payable in the ACT.
Section 66A (Wages paid or payable in relation to services performed in other countries) provides an exemption for wages paid or payable in relation to services performed entirely in 1 or more other countries for a continuous period of more than 6 months.
The question of whether wages are taxable in the ACT must be decided by taking into account only the services performed by the employee in relation to the employer in the month in which the wages are paid or payable.
Any wages paid or payable by an employer in relation to an employee in a month are taken to be paid or payable in relation to the services performed by the employee in relation to the employer in that month.
Example
If wages paid in a month are paid to an employee in relation to services performed over several months, the question of whether the wages are taxable in the ACT must be decided by taking into account only services performed by the employee in the month in which the wages are paid. Services performed in previous months are disregarded (services performed in previous months will be relevant to the question of whether wages paid in the previous months are taxable in the ACT).
However, if no services are performed by an employee in relation to an employer in the month in which wages are paid or payable in relation to the employee—
the question of whether the wages are taxable in the ACT must be decided by taking into account only the services performed by the employee in relation to the employer in the most recent prior month in which the employee performed services in relation to the employer; and
the wages are taken to be paid or payable in relation to the services performed by the employee in relation to the employer in that most recent prior month.
Also, if no services were performed by an employee in relation to an employer in the month in which wages are paid or payable in relation to the employee or in any prior month—
the wages are taken to be paid or payable in relation to services performed by the employee in the month in which the wages are paid or payable; and
the services are taken to have been performed at a place or places where it may be reasonably expected that the services of the employee in relation to the employer will be performed.
All amounts of wages paid or payable in the same month by the same employer in relation to the same employee must be aggregated for the purpose of deciding whether they are taxable in the ACT (as if they were paid or payable for all services performed by the employee in the month in which the wages are paid or payable, or the most recent prior month).
Example
If 1 amount of wages is paid by an employer in a particular month for services performed in the ACT, and another amount of wages is paid by the same employer in the same month for services performed by the same employee in another Australian jurisdiction, the wages paid must be aggregated (as if they were paid for all services performed by the employee in that month). Accordingly, s (1) (b) would be applied for the purpose of deciding whether the wages are taxable in the ACT.
If wages are paid in a different month from the month in which they are payable, the question of whether the wages are taxable in the ACT must be decided by taking into account the earlier of the relevant months.
This Act’s bill:Explanatory statementSecond reading speech
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