Payroll Tax Act 2009

(1) For this Act, wages are taxable in this jurisdiction if:

(a) the wages are paid or payable by an employer for or in relation to services performed by an employee wholly in this jurisdiction; or

(b) the wages are paid or payable by an employer for or in relation to services performed by an employee in 2 or more Australian jurisdictions, or partly in one or more Australian jurisdictions and partly outside all Australian jurisdictions, and:

(ii) the employer is based in this jurisdiction (in a case where the employee is not based in an Australian jurisdiction); or

(iii) the wages are paid or payable in this jurisdiction (in a case where both the employee and the employer are not based in an Australian jurisdiction); or

(iv) the wages are paid or payable for services performed mainly in this jurisdiction (in a case where both the employee and the employer are not based in an Australian jurisdiction and the wages are not paid or payable in an Australian jurisdiction); or

(c) the wages are paid or payable by an employer for or in relation to services performed by an employee wholly outside all Australian jurisdictions and are paid or payable in this jurisdiction.

Note for subsection (1)(c)

Section 66A provides an exemption for wages paid or payable for services performed wholly in one or more other countries for a continuous period of more than 6 months.

(2) The question of whether wages are taxable in this jurisdiction is to be determined by reference only to the services performed by the employee in respect of the employer during the month in which the wages are paid or payable, subject to this section.

(3) Any wages paid or payable by an employer in respect of an employee in a particular month are taken to be paid or payable for or in relation to the services performed by the employee in respect of the employer during that month.

Example for subsections (2) and (3)

Wages paid to an employee in June 2010 by an employer include wages for services performed by the employee wholly in this jurisdiction in that month and a bonus for services performed by the employee during the financial year ending at the end of June 2010, which were services partly performed in this jurisdiction and partly in other Australian jurisdictions. The question of whether the wages paid in June 2010 are taxable in this jurisdiction is to be determined by reference only to services performed in that month and services performed in the previous months of that financial year must be disregarded. As a result, the wages paid in June 2010 are taxable in this jurisdiction because of subsection (1)(a).

The services performed in the previous months of that financial year will be relevant to the question of whether wages paid in each of those months are taxable in this jurisdiction, which will need to be determined having regard to subsection (1)(a) and (b).

(4) If no services are performed by an employee in respect of an employer during the month in which the wages are paid or payable to or in relation to the employee:

(a) the question of whether the wages are taxable in this jurisdiction is to be determined by reference only to the services performed by the employee in respect of the employer during the most recent prior month in which the employee performed services in respect of the employer; and

(b) the wages are taken to be paid or payable for or in relation to the services performed by the employee in respect of the employer during that most recent prior month.

(5) If no services were performed by an employee in respect of an employer during the month in which wages are paid or payable to or in relation to the employee or in any prior month:

(a) the wages are taken to be paid or payable for or in relation to services performed by the employee in the month in which the wages are paid or payable; and

(b) 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 respect of the employer will be performed.

(6) All amounts of wages paid or payable in the same month by the same employer in respect of the same employee are to be aggregated for the purposes of determining whether they are taxable in this jurisdiction (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, as the case requires).

Example for subsection (6)

If one amount of wages is paid by an employer in a particular month for services performed in this jurisdiction, 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 are to be aggregated (as if they were paid for all services performed by the employee in that month). Accordingly, subsection (1)(b) would be applied for the purpose of determining whether the wages are taxable in this jurisdiction.

(7) 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 this jurisdiction is to be determined by reference to the earlier of the relevant months.