Australia

Payroll Tax Advisory for the Medical Industry

A recent case in which a medical practice received a payroll tax bill of almost $800,000* has shocked practice owners into taking a long, hard look at their own payroll tax exposure.

Scrutiny is intensifying from state revenue offices throughout Australia, including Western Australia, amid investigations uncovering high levels of non-compliance.

Are you doctors subcontractors or employees?
In medical practices, it can be unclear whether your doctors are subcontractors or employees in the eyes of RevenueWA.

You may regard your doctors as independent to the practice, but RevenueWA may not agree. An audit may deem them to be employees, which could put you over the payroll tax threshold and trigger a potentially large payroll tax debt. This is what happened in the Thomas and Naaz case, where a group of medical practices in New South Wales received a retrospective payroll tax bill of almost $800,000.

Careful documentation of business models, systems and service agreements to clarify the service arrangement between your practice and the doctors will help guard against this. Handshake agreements between practice owners and subcontractors will not suffice.

Contact our team for your payroll tax review today

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Your preventative strategy

There are steps that you can take to reduce your payroll tax exposure. Working with our health services accounting team at William Buck to review your current processes and address problem areas is a preventative strategy that’s worth the investment.

In Western Australia, we currently offer a fixed fee to review your current payroll tax exposure which we summarise for you in a ‘Traffic Light’ report.

William Buck – Specialist advisors to the medical industry

At William Buck Accountants & Advisors, we’re more than just accountants, we’re specialist advisors to the medical industry. Our health services accounting team works with over 1,600 clients across Australia, and our advisors help practitioners and health care corporates achieve their business and personal goals

Speak with our medical payroll team at William Buck now

Contact Damon Harris or Trent Antonio to see how we can help you.

Damon Harris Web

Damon Harris

Director, Business advisory
Email Damon Harris
Tel: 61 8 6436 2888

Trent Antonio

Director, Business Advisory
Email Trent Antonio
Tel: 61 8 6436 2888

Contact our team for your payroll tax review