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Exemptions

Wages paid by certain employers are exempt from payroll tax as provided under Part 4 and Schedule 2 of the Payroll Tax Act 2009. An exemption will generally apply to wages paid by the following types of organisations:

  • from 1 July 2009 non-profit organisations having as their sole or dominant purpose a charitable purpose (Note: prior to 1 July 2009, non-profit organisations were required to have wholly charitable purposes);
  • religious or public benevolent institutions;
  • public hospitals;
  • non-profit child care centre and kindergartens;
  • non-profit schools or colleges for wages paid to persons providing education at or below (but not above) the secondary level of education; and
  • a motion picture production company, being wages paid or payable to a person who is involved in the production of a feature film.  The motion picture production company needs to satisfy the Minister that:

    • the film will be produced wholly or substantially within the state;
    • the production of the film will involve or result in the employment of Australian residents; and
    • the production of the film will result in economic benefits to the State of South Australia.

The above list of exempt employers is not exhaustive.

Employers, who believe that they are exempt from payroll tax, should apply to RevenueSA (except applications by motion picture production companies) for a decision on their exempt status.  Full details relating to the operations of the organisation, as well as a copy of the Constitution of the organisation must be provided.

Further information is available in the Payroll Tax Guide to Legislation.

Payroll Tax Exemption for Wages Paid to Apprentices and Trainees

On 16 September 2010, the government handed down the Budget Bill, which provides employers with an exemption from payroll tax on wages paid or payable to apprentices and trainees from 1 July 2010, consistent with the government’s announcement during the 2010 election campaign.

RevenueSA has been administering the Payroll Tax Act 2009 as if the exemption came into effect from 1 July 2010, and will continue to administer the legislation on this basis until the Bill has been passed by Parliament.

In the interim, until the legislation is in force, the Minister has approved an exemption being administered on the following basis.

  • wages paid or payable to an apprentice or trainee will be exempt in the following circumstances:
  • by an approved group training organisation;
  • by an employer (not a group training organisation) if the apprentice or trainee is undertaking training under:

    • a school-based training contract; or
    • an initial training contract between the employer and the apprentice or trainee; or
    • a training contract entered into prior to 1 July 2010 that is current on that date.

Wages paid or payable on or after 1 July 2010 to apprentices or trainees that meet the above eligibility criteria are exempt. However employers are required to report exempt wages in their annual reconciliation. Please refer to Information Circular 21 for further information.

The exemption replaces the current administrative Payroll Tax Trainee Rebate Scheme, which ceases from 30 June 2010.

Please note that employers have until 31 December 2010 to claim rebates for prior periods.  Please refer to Information Circular No: 16 - Rebates for further information.

 

 

This page was last reviewed 30 November, 2011