Payroll Tax

Payroll tax is a State tax that is calculated on wages you, as an employer, pay to your employees or deemed employees.

Payroll tax is a self-assessing tax, which requires employers to establish whether the level of their wages paid or payable requires them to register. An employer who is required to apply for registration must:

1. Make an application to register as an employer.
2. Lodge returns on a periodic basis (either monthly or annually) as determined by the Commissioner and pay the tax due when the return is lodged.
3. Perform an Annual Reconciliation at the end of each financial year to ensure the correct liability has been paid.

All Australian states and territories have harmonised a number of key areas of payroll tax administration. For more information on the harmonisation of payroll tax refer to the Payroll Tax Australia website.

Payroll tax in South Australia is administered under the following legislation:

• Payroll Tax Act 2009
• Taxation Administration Act 1996

Does my organisation need to register for payroll tax?

An employer must register for payroll tax when their Australian wide taxable wages exceeds the South Australian threshold and the employer pays wages in South Australia.

Where an employer is a member of a group of employers and pays taxable wages in South Australia and the group's Australian taxable wages exceeds the South Australian threshold, registration is required, regardless of the wage level of the particular group member.

Tax rates, wage thresholds and deduction

The payroll tax rate is determined based on the Australia wide annual wages (or group wages) paid, this means, your wages before the deduction entitlement is subtracted.

Contact us

Contact Payroll Tax

When contacting us please provide your South Australian Taxpayer Number (if known), ABN, and organisation name.

You can reach us during business hours: 8:30am - 5:00pm (South Australian time), Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays).

Do you want to provide feedback or lodge a complaint?

You can do so via our feedback and complaints page.