Written by Tom Laundy & Jennifer Rees
William Buck welcomes today’s announcement of a 12-month amnesty on payroll tax for general practitioners in South Australia.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) SA this morning announced that it has secured a 12-month amnesty on payroll tax, effective immediately and remaining until 30 June 2024.
This is welcome news for our South Australian GP clients who have experienced some uncertainty following recent payroll tax audit activity on the eastern seaboard.
The amnesty means that Revenue SA will not retrospectively audit general practices in relation to their payroll tax affairs. Practices will have 12 months to review their structure and determine whether they should be paying payroll tax on payments to doctors.
What should SA practices do?
- Register for Payroll Tax (if the practice hasn’t already)
RACGP SA is encouraging practices to consider whether they need to register for payroll tax prior to 30 September 2023 noting that the majority of practices may have registered previously even if they are not currently paying payroll tax by virtue of the $1.5m threshold.
- Review your practice’s payroll tax liability and risk
Practices should now consider reviewing their practice structure to determine how payroll tax applies to payments made to practitioners in all forms of engagement (e.g. tenant Doctors). From our experience this process typically involves reviewing practitioner contracts, the flow of patient fee transactions and other operational matters. This process could result in various actions to be taken prior to 30 June 2024 (and expiration of the amnesty) that will reduce the practice’s exposure to liability.
- Don’t panic
The announcement of the amnesty provides a reasonable period to review the practice structure. It may also be an opportunity to review other areas with a view to modernising the practice. Practices should seek professional advice in this regard.
The announcement has come at a critical time for local GPs who face a range of significant challenges at present. It’s vital that local practices remain financially sustainable to allow our GPs to continue to deliver the primary healthcare services upon which our community so relies.
As a long-time trusted adviser to South Australian GPs, William Buck knows this payroll tax amnesty will provide a much-needed level of financial relief for the local industry.
We commend the RACGP SA Council for its role in working with the State Government to achieve this outcome. We look forward to hearing more from RevenueSA in the coming days.
William Buck urges South Australian GPs to seek professional advice on the payroll tax amnesty, its related obligations and reporting requirements.
William Buck’s specialist health services team provide tax and business advisory services to GPs and medical professionals. Please contact William Buck SA for assistance.
