The Queensland government is providing businesses one or more tax relief options including refunds, tax holidays and/or deferrals for paying payroll tax.
The Queensland government is providing businesses one or more tax relief options to help with the effects of COVID-19. They include:
- refunds of payroll tax for 2 months
- a payroll tax holiday for 3 months
- deferral of paying payroll tax for the 2020 calendar year.
Refunds
Applications for payroll tax refunds closed on 31 May 2020.
If you applied on time and received an email confirming your eligibility for the refund and have not yet requested a reassessment of the eligible months in OSRconnect, please urgently email your reassessment request to us at payrolltax@treasury.qld.gov.au.
Refunds should be processed within 5 business days. These refunds do not have to be repaid.
Depending on your eligibility, the refund months were either November and December 2019 or January and February 2020. If you are a half-yearly lodger, relief applied on a pro-rata basis.
Payroll tax holiday
Applications for the payroll tax holiday for employers (or part of a group of employers) who pay $6.5 million or less in Australian taxable wages closed on 31 May 2020.
These employers did not have to pay payroll tax for the months of January, February, and March 2020.
This holiday relief does not have to be repaid.
Deferring payment
You can apply to defer paying your payroll tax for the 2020 calendar year. If you had already applied for an earlier deferral date, you do not need not reapply – it will be extended to 31 December 2020.
Eligibility
If you are an employer or part of a group of employers and pay $6.5 million or less in Australian taxable wages, then you may be eligible for:
- refunds of payroll tax for 2 months (November and December 2019)
- a payroll tax holiday for 3 months (January to March 2020)
- deferral of payroll tax for the 2020 calendar year or extension for those that have already applied
If you are an employer or part of a group of employers and pay more than $6.5 million in Australian taxable wages and have been negatively affected, then you may be eligible for:
- refunds of payroll tax for 2 months (January and February 2020).
- deferral of payroll tax for the 2020 calendar year (If you have already applied for a deferral, you do not need not reapply – it will be extended.)
Before you apply
Ensure you have your 7 digit client number. You can find your client number under the Lodgement Obligations tab in OSRconnect.
If you are waiting to hear about your application for payroll tax registration, you won’t have a client number yet.
You will be contacted as soon as possible.
How to apply
There are 2 online application forms:
- Apply for Deferral (MUST APPLY BEFORE 31 December 2020)
- Apply for Refund/Tax Holiday. (MUST APPLY BEFORE 31 MAY 2020)
Links to Government Resources
FAQs
- refunds of payroll tax for 2 months and/or
- a payroll tax holiday for 3 months and/or
- deferral of paying payroll tax for the 2020 calendar year
- Employers or groups of employers that pay $6.5 million or less in Australian taxable wages
- Employers or groups of employers that pay more than $6.5 million Australian taxable wages and have been directly or indirectly affected by COVID-19
An extension will be given for those that have already applied
After your application has been processed you will be sent an email with instructions on what to do next.
- You won’t need to pay payroll tax returns for the 2020 calendar year.
- You must continue to lodge returns in OSRconnect – without paying them – during this time.
- You can resume paying returns at any time during the deferral period.
