Legal news
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”.
Land transfer duty is calculated on the dutiable value of the property. In Commissioner of State Revenue (Vic) v 1043 Melton Highway Pty Ltd [2020] VSC 820, the Supreme Court considered default interest is included in ‘consideration’ for the transfer of dutiable property.
In the recent decision of AWF Prop Co 2 Pty Ltd and Ararat Wind Farm Pty Ltd v Ararat Rural City Council and Valuer General Victoria [2020] VSC 853, the Supreme Court of Victoria ruled in favour of the wind farm owners and determined the various wind farm assets (such as wind turbines) to be chattels rather than fixtures.
Payroll tax is a state and territory tax. It is assessed where total Australian taxable wages paid or payable to employees by an employer exceed specific thresholds. The tax is self-assessed and as such the obligation falls to employers to ensure they are aware of their total wage bill across Australian states and territories and whether those are taxable.
Many state and federal taxing provisions provide different tax outcomes on the trustees of trusts depending on what type of trust is involved. One example of this is contained in the NSW land tax rules which provides for a land tax surcharge on unit trusts that are “special trusts” rather than “fixed trusts”.
Where services are performed wholly in one Australian jurisdiction, payroll tax will be payable in that jurisdiction. For example Aaron is a receptionist and fully performs his job at an office in regional Victoria. His employer qualifies for payroll tax being charged at the regional rate, Aaron’s wages will be payable in Victoria at regional rates.
Thousands of businesses across regional Victoria have already taken advantage of the Victorian Government’s regional payroll tax cuts, which have saved businesses more than $31 million in the first financial year it was introduced.
In CCSR v Benidorm Pty Ltd [2020] NSWCA 285, the NSW Court of Appeal found that a ‘declaration of trust’ did not trigger duty on the basis that it merely acknowledged the existence of an existing trust.
Many states now have foreign land tax surcharges that apply to foreign persons including trustee of foreign trusts. As a result many trustees will consider amending their trust deeds to ensure that they don’t inadvertently trigger such surcharges.
Payroll tax captures not only wages paid to employees but also certain payments made to contractors. In this part 6 of our payroll tax series, we look at what is a contractor and what payments to contractors are caught by the payroll tax regime. In part 7 we will examine the exemptions that apply to contractors.
As follow on from part 6 of our payroll tax series, where we identified when payments to contractors will be caught by the payroll tax system, in this article we consider the various exemptions that can apply to such payments to contactors. Importantly, if any of these exemptions apply, such payments to contractors will not be subject to payroll tax.
In part 8 of our payroll tax series, we explore how payments under an employment agency contract may be subject to payroll tax. The employment agency contracts were initially inserted into the Victorian Payroll Tax Act 2007 (the Act) as an anti-avoidance measure to capture not only traditional employment agency arrangement but also the interposition of entities
In part 9 of our payroll tax series, we explore the different types of payroll tax exemptions employers may qualify for. While we will refer to theVictorian legislation, these principles apply across all States and Territories as the payroll tax legislation is uniformed across Australia.
In this 10th part of our payroll tax series, we explore the grouping provisions contained in the Payroll Tax 2007 (PTA 2007). While we will refer to the Victorian legislation, similar provisions exist in all states and territories due to a harmonisation of the law.
In this 11th and final part of our payroll tax series, we explore the payroll tax de-grouping provisions. While we will refer to the Victorian legislation, similar provisions exist in all states and territories due to a harmonisation of the law.
