The New South Wales Court of Appeal has held that payments made to Uber drivers are deemed to be wages for payroll tax purposes under the relevant contract provisions.

In particular, the drivers provided services to Uber under their driving contracts.  The driving contracts governed or controlled the driver’s performance.  The driving services were not ancillary to the use of the vehicles.  Uber was not successful in challenging the earlier decisions of Optical Superstore and Thomas and Naaz – in particular, the payments made to derivers were “paid or payable” by Uber.

The State Government has introduced a new bill to State Parliament to implement changes from the 2025-2026 Victorian State Budget.  Despite a promise of no new taxes or increased taxes, a new 50% penalty tax rate allows the State Revenue to impose higher penalties if it considers a taxpayer or their adviser has been “reckless”.

The 2025-2026 Victorian State Budget contains no new taxes or increased taxes, however previously announced changes have been confirmed – including increases to the congestion/car parking levy and the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund levy.

The New South Wales Supreme Court has that Uber is not liable for payroll tax on payments made to drivers in Uber Australia Pty Ltd v Chief Commissioner of State Revenue [2024] NSWSC 1124.

The New South Wales State Budget 2024-25 is a mixed bag, containing an increase to foreign surcharges, but also payroll tax relief for GP contractors. The tax-free threshold for land tax will also remain the same, so more landowners will be subject to land tax as property values rise.

In a major backdown, the Victorian State Government has agreed to reduce some of the impact of the recent policy shifts towards taxing general practitioners as employees for payroll tax purposes.

On 14 May 2024, the State Taxation Amendment Bill 2024 (Vic) (the Bill) was released after having its second reading speech in the Victorian Legislative Assembly.

Employers and business entities must pay payroll tax in relation to wages paid to its employees. In addition, such entities must pay payroll tax in relation to contractors engaged under “relevant contracts”.

The New South Wales Court of Appeal (NSWCA) in Thomas and Naaz Pty Ltd v Chief Commissioner of State Revenue [2023] NSWCA 40 has dismissed a medical practice’s appeal and upheld the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal Appeal Panel’s (Appeal Panel) decision that payments from a medical practice to doctors, who worked at the practice, are subject to payroll tax.

The recent New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal Appeal Panel’s (Appeal Panel) decision in Thomas and Naaz Pty Ltd v Chief Commissioner of State Revenue [2022] NSWCATAP 220 dismissed the medical practice’s appeal and confirmed the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal’s (Tribunal) decision that payments from a medical practice to doctors who worked at the practice are subject to payroll tax.

The NSW Chief Commissioner of State Revenue’s (Commissioner) application to the High Court for special leave to appeal the NSW Court of Appeal’s decision in Chief Commissioner of State Revenue v Downer EDI Engineering Pty Ltd [2020] NSWCA 126 has been denied, the High Court finding the appeal “would have insufficient prospects of success”.

An employment agency contract involves a contract between two parties where one of the parties (the employment agent) procures the services of a person for a client. The relevant test is whether the employment agent provided individuals who would comprise, or who would be added to, the workforce of the client for the conduct of the client's business.

As of 1 May 2020, the State Taxation Acts Amendment (Relief Measures) Act 2020 (Vic) introduces various changes to land transfer duty and payroll tax relief measures as part of the government’s response to provide relief measures for bushfire affected areas and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 crisis has introduced unprecedented disruptions to the workforce, pushing employees and employers to work in remote capacities and in expedited ways across many industries.

This will mean that employers will soon have to turn their minds to considerations never contemplated before, such as their base line payroll tax assumptions and whether or not changes in the ways we will be working in the coming months, will shift payroll tax liabilities to a different jurisdiction. We explore these questions further in this article.

In Nationwide Towing & Transport Pty Ltd v Commissioner of State Revenue (No 2) [2018] VSC 609, the Victorian Supreme Court has handed down another decision* against the Victorian State Revenue Office by setting aside payroll tax assessments issued in relation to payments to subcontractors.

Lately, revenue authorities have focused heavily on investigating medical, dental, optometry and other allied health clinics.