Pay-roll Tax Amendment Act 2000 (TAS)

Pay-roll Tax Amendment Act 2000

An Act to amend the Pay-roll Tax Act 1971

[Royal Assent 16 June 2000]

Be it enacted by His Excellency the Governor of Tasmania, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly, in Parliament assembled, as follows:

1Short titleThis Act may be cited as the Pay-roll Tax Amendment Act 2000 . 2CommencementThis Act commences on 1 July 2000. 3Principal ActIn this Act, the Pay-roll Tax Act 1971 is referred to as the Principal Act. 4Section 2A substituted and section 2AB insertedSection 2A of the Principal Act, as inserted by the Pay-roll Tax Amendment Act 1997 , is repealed and the following sections are substituted: 2AATaxation Administration Act 1997 This Act is to be read together with the Taxation Administration Act 1997 which provides for the administration and enforcement of this Act. 2ABEmployment agents (1)  An employment agency contract is a contract – (a) that is not a contract of employment; and (b) under which a person (in this section referred to as an "employment agent") by arrangement procures the services of another person (in this section referred to as a "contract worker") for a client of his or hers and as a result receives directly or indirectly payment, whether by way of a lump sum or ongoing fee, during or in respect of the period when the services are provided by the contract worker to the client. (2)  For the purposes of this Act – (a) the employment agent under an employment agency contract is taken to be an employer; and (b) the contract worker under an employment agency contract is taken to be an employee of the employment agent; and (c) the following amounts are taken to be wages paid or payable by the employment agent: (i) any amount paid or payable by way of remuneration to the contract worker in respect of the provision of services in connection with an employment agency contract; (ii) an amount representing the value of any benefits provided for, or in respect of, the provision of services in connection with an employment agency contract that would be a fringe benefit if provided to a person in the capacity of an employee; (iii) the amount of any payment made in respect of the contract worker that would be a superannuation benefit if made in respect of a person in the capacity of an employee. (3)  Subsection (2)(c) does not apply to an amount that would be exempt from pay-roll tax if the contract worker were paid by the client as an employee and a written statement to that effect has been given to the employment agent by the client. (4)  If a statement made under subsection (3) is false, the client is liable to pay to the Commissioner any pay-roll tax that would be payable if the statement had not been made. (5)  If it is not reasonably practicable to determine the extent to which an amount, benefit or payment constitutes wages under subsection (2)(c) , the Commissioner may accept a return, or make an assessment, in which the amount on which pay-roll tax is levied is determined on the basis of estimates. 5Section 3A amended (Application of Act to relevant contracts) Section 3A of the Principal Act is amended as follows: (a) by omitting paragraph (a) from subsection (4) and substituting the following paragraph: (a) those services are of a kind not ordinarily required by the designated person and are provided by a person who has performed services of a similar kind to the public generally in the same financial year; or (b) by omitting paragraph (e) from subsection (4) and substituting the following paragraph: (e) the Commissioner is satisfied that those services are provided by a person who has performed services of a similar kind to the public generally in the same financial year. (c) by inserting the following subsection after subsection (4) : (4A)  Where a contract provides for the provision of services by an employment agent, or a contract worker procured by an employment agent, the contract is taken not to be a relevant contract. 6Section 7 amended (Imposition of pay-roll tax) Section 7 of the Principal Act is amended by omitting subsections (1A) , (1B) , (2) and (2A) and substituting the following subsections: (2)  For the purposes of ascertaining the monthly pay-roll tax payable by an employer for the financial year commencing on 1 July 2000 and subsequent financial years, an amount calculated in accordance with the following formulae is to be deducted from the amount of taxable wages each month: (a) for the financial year commencing on 1 July 2000 or 1 July 2001 – (b) for the financial year commencing on 1 July in any subsequent year – where – T is the taxable wages for the month; and A is the Australian wages for the month; and D is the number of days in the month during which the employer was an employer; and M is the number of days in the month. (2A)  If the Australian wages paid or payable by an employer for a month after June 2000 but before July 2002 are more than $50 500 for that month, the rate of pay-roll tax payable for that month in respect of taxable wages included in those Australian wages is 6.53%. (2B)  If the Australian wages paid or payable by an employer for a month after June 2002 are more than $51 000 for that month, the rate of pay-roll tax payable for that month in respect of taxable wages included in those Australian wages is 6.47%. 7Section 9 repealed Section 9 of the Principal Act is repealed. 8Section 11A amended (Annual adjustments) Section 11A of the Principal Act is amended as follows: (a) by omitting subsections (3) , (3A) and (3B) and substituting the following subsections: (3)  For any employer the annual amount of pay-roll tax payable under subsection (1) for a financial year commencing on 1 July 2000 or 1 July 2001 is – (a) if adjusted Australian wages for the year are $606 000 or less, nil; or (b) if adjusted Australian wages for the year are more than $606 000, an amount ascertained by applying the rate of 6.53% to the difference between the total of the taxable wages paid or payable by the employer during that financial year and an amount calculated in accordance with the following formula: (3A)  For any employer the annual amount of pay-roll tax payable under subsection (1) for a financial year commencing on or after 1 July 2002 is – (a) if adjusted Australian wages for the year are $612 000 or less, nil; or (b) if adjusted Australian wages for the year are more than $612 000, an amount ascertained by applying the rate of 6.47% to the difference between the total of the taxable wages paid or payable by the employer during that financial year and an amount calculated in accordance with the following formula: (b) by omitting from subsection (3C) " subsections (3A) and (3B) " and substituting "subsections (3) and (3A)"; (c) by omitting subsections (5) and (6) and substituting the following subsection: (5)  In this section, adjusted Australian wages means, in respect of a financial year commencing on or after 1 July 1992, the Australian wages paid or payable by an employer during that financial year, multiplied by – where D is the number of days on which the employer was an employer during the financial year. 9Section 11I amended (Exclusion of persons from groups) Section 11I of the Principal Act is amended as follows: (a) by omitting subsection (1) and substituting the following subsection: (1)  The Commissioner may, by order in writing, exclude from a group that is constituted as mentioned in section 11D any of its members where the Commissioner is satisfied that the businesses carried on by that member are carried on substantially independently of, and are not substantially connected with, the carrying on of a business of another member of the group. (b) by omitting subsection (4) . 10Section 12 amended (Registration) Section 12 of the Principal Act is amended by omitting subsection (1) and substituting the following subsection: (1)  Where the Australian wages of an employer exceed – (a) $50 500 in any month after June 2000 but before July 2002; or (b) $51 000 in any month after June 2002 – that employer must apply within 7 days after the close of that month to the Commissioner, in a form approved by the Commissioner, for registration as an employer under this Act. 11SubstitutionsEach of the provisions of the Principal Act specified in Column 1 of Schedule 1 is amended by omitting "50 per centum or more" on the number of occurrences specified in Column 2 of that Schedule and substituting "more than 50 per cent". Schedule 1Substitutions

Section 11

Column 1

Provision amended

Column 2

Number of occurrences

Section 11E(2)(b)

1

Section 11E(2)(c)(i)

1

Section 11E(2)(c)(ii)

1

Section 11E(2)(d)

1

Section 11E(5)

1

Section 11H

1

[Second reading presentation speech made in:

House of Assembly on 18 APRIL 2000

Legislative Council on 24 MAY 2000]