The small business payroll tax rebate operated from 2013-14 to 2016-17 and was provided to eligible employers with a taxable Australian payroll of less than or equal to $1.2 million.

The rebate scheme below was scheduled to run until 2019-20, however in the 2017-18 State Budget, new payroll tax rates were introduced which in effect provide small businesses with the benefit of a reduced payroll tax rate as returns were lodged.

The rebate payment was paid in the first half of the 2013-14 to 2017-18 financial years, based on eligible employers' taxable payrolls in the respective prior year's annual reconciliation.

Employers did not need to apply for the rebate, RevenueSA assessed an employer's eligibility for the rebate. Employers were not eligible for the rebate payment until finalisation (including payment of any underpayments made during the year) of their relevant annual payroll tax reconciliation process. Employers who are members of a group could not have their rebate determined until their Designated Group Employer's annual payroll tax reconciliation had been finalised.

Once the rebate payments had been made, eligible employers with a taxable Australian payroll of up to $1 million effectively only paid payroll tax at a level equivalent to 2.45 percentage points lower than the statutory rate of 4.95%.

Rebate payments phased out for eligible employers with a taxable payroll of between $1 million and $1.2 million.

The rebate payment for eligible employers who had taxable wages below $1.2 million was determined in accordance with the difference in rates shown in the table below.

Further information in relation to the administration of the rebate is contained in Revenue Ruling PTASA002 [V3].