The State’s largest employers will assist in Budget repair through a temporary progressive payroll tax scale for employers with payrolls exceeding $100 million.
The new measure helps share the burden of Budget repair across the community, with the State Government minimising the impact on struggling families and small businesses.
From July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2023, Western Australian employers with an Australia-wide payroll exceeding $100 million – but not exceeding $1.5 billion – will have that part of their payroll taxed at a rate of six per cent (up from the current rate of 5.5 per cent).
Western Australian employers with an Australia-wide payroll exceeding $1.5 billion will have that part of their payroll taxed at a rate of 6.5 per cent.
Employers who also operate outside of WA will pay the same effective rate of tax on their Western Australian wages as employers with the same Australia-wide wages that operate solely in WA.
This measure is not expected to have significant industry impacts given the fact that:
- the new scale will operate for only five years;
- there will be no change in payroll tax for the 92 per cent of payroll tax payers that have Australia-wide payrolls of $100 million or less;
- the greatest impacts will be on large businesses and industries that are generally highly profitable, including mining, construction, retail, transport and the financial sector; and
- Payroll tax is generally considered to have similar economic impacts as a flat personal income tax or a broad-based consumption tax.
For more 2017-18 State Budget information, visit http://www.ourstatebudget.wa.gov.au