The Government has recently committed to the provision of retrospective Relief from payroll tax liabilities in relation to the past non-declaration of wages of medical specialists and dentists providing services to clinics and practices under a contract arrangement.
Relief will be extended to medical specialists and dental practices upon the condition that they register for any future payroll tax liabilities by 30 June 2024.
If there are valid reasons why meeting this timeframe isn’t possible please contact RevenueSA on payrolltax@sa.gov.au or by phoning 08 8226 3750, select option 5, and we will consider your circumstances.
For the purposes of this relief, the following definitions are relevant.
- Medical Specialist – includes medical specialists registered with the Medical Board of Australia.
Whilst it is recognised that General Practitioners are a category of specialisation, the amnesty specific to General Practitioners concluded on 30 November 2023. As such, General Practitioners that failed to register for their amnesty are not eligible for Relief under this current offer to Medical Specialists. - Dentists - includes dentists registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).
Unlike the amnesty for general practitioners, there is no need to separately register to qualify for this offer of Relief. Simply registering for payroll tax through RevenueSA is sufficient to become eligible for the waiver of any previous payroll tax liabilities arising from non-declarations covered by this Relief.
The register for payroll tax page will assist with the registration process:
If your medical specialist practice or dental clinic is already registered then you will automatically qualify for the Relief and there is nothing further you are required to do.
You do not need to register for payroll tax if your medical specialist practice or dental clinic’s:
- annual Australia wide wages for 2023-24 are below $1.5 million (including payment made to contracted specialists);
- annual wages were below $1.5 million for previous financial years; and
- is not grouped with other practices/clinics.
Where annual Australia wide wages are below the payroll tax threshold, you will not be subject to payroll tax and the amnesty does not apply.
The offer of retrospective Relief only applies to those medical specialists and dentists engaged through relevant contracts and does not apply to undeclared wages of other practice staff such as nursing, reception, allied health or employed specialists/dentists.
As such, upon registering for payroll tax, five years of past practice employee wages information (minus any wages paid to medical specialists or dentists operating under relevant contracts) will need to be declared. If the wages paid to the practice employees exceeds the payroll tax threshold of $1.5m, a liability may still arise.
Importantly, from 1 July 2024 there is no future relief afforded to practices and clinics engaging medical specialist or dentists as is the case with General Practitioners.
The Statutes Amendment (Budget Measures) Bill 2024 , introduced into the South Australian Parliament on 6 June 2024, proposes amendments to the Payroll Tax Act 2009 and foreshadows the development of regulations which will provide legislative authority to this retrospective Relief.
As always, RevenueSA recommends that medical specialist or dental practices who are uncertain of their payroll tax obligations seek professional legal or financial advice.