{"id":"payroll-tax-relief-covid19-response-regulations-2020","name":"Pay-roll Tax Relief (COVID-19 Response) Regulations 2020","slug":"pay-roll-tax-relief-covid-19-response-regulations-2020","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":179217,"registerId":"wa-payroll-tax-relief-covid19-response-regulations-2020-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Pay-roll Tax Relief (COVID-19 Response) Regulations 2020","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nPay-roll Tax Relief (COVID-19 Response) Act 2020\n\nPay-roll Tax Relief (COVID-19 Response) Regulations 2020\n\nWestern Australia\n\nPay-roll Tax Relief (COVID-19 Response) Regulations 2020\n\nContents\n\n1. Citation 1\n\n2. Commencement 1\n\n3. Terms used 1\n\n4. Emergency period: jobkeeper (extended) subsidised exempt wages 2\n\n5. Exempt wages: jobkeeper (extended) subsidised exempt wages 2\n\n6. Emergency period: apprenticeship commencements subsidised exempt wages 2\n\n7. Exempt wages: apprenticeship commencements subsidised exempt wages 3\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 4\n\nDefined terms\n\n  \n\nPay‑roll Tax Relief (COVID‑19 Response) Act 2020\n\nPay‑roll Tax Relief (COVID‑19 Response) Regulations 2020\n\n##### 1. Citation\n\n\t\tThese regulations are the *Pay‑roll Tax Relief (COVID‑19 Response) Regulations 2020*.\n\n##### 2. Commencement\n\nThese regulations come into operation as follows —\n\n(a) regulations 1 and 2 — on the day on which these regulations are published in the *Gazette*;\n\n(b) the rest of the regulations — on the day after that day.\n\n##### 3. Terms used\n\nIn these regulations —\n\napprenticeship commencements subsidised exempt wages —\n\n(a) means wages paid or payable by an employer that are subsidised by an apprenticeship commencements wage subsidy; but\n\n(b) does not include any part of wages paid or payable by an employer that are not subsidised by an apprenticeship commencements wage subsidy;\n\napprenticeship commencements wage subsidy means a payment that —\n\n(a) is payable by the Commonwealth for the purpose of encouraging employers to engage new apprentices or trainees; and\n\n(b) is known as the Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements wage subsidy;\n\njobkeeper (extended) subsidised exempt wages —\n\n(a) means wages paid or payable by an employer, for the period commencing on 28 September 2020 and ending on 28 March 2021, that are subsidised by the jobkeeper payment; but\n\n(b) does not include any part of wages paid or payable by an employer that are not subsidised by the jobkeeper payment.\n\n[Regulation 3 inserted: SL 2020/245 r. 4.]\n\n##### 4. Emergency period: jobkeeper (extended) subsidised exempt wages\n\nFor the purposes of paragraph (c) of the definition of ***emergency period*** in section 4(2) of the Act, the period commencing on 28 September 2020 and ending on 28 March 2021 is prescribed in relation to jobkeeper (extended) subsidised exempt wages.\n\n##### 5. Exempt wages: jobkeeper (extended) subsidised exempt wages\n\nFor the purposes of section 6(c) of the Act, jobkeeper (extended) subsidised exempt wages are prescribed as exempt.\n\n##### 6. Emergency period: apprenticeship commencements subsidised exempt wages\n\nFor the purposes of paragraph (c) of the definition of ***emergency period*** in section 4(2) of the Act, the period commencing on 5 October 2020 and ending on 30 September 2021 is prescribed in relation to apprenticeship commencements subsidised exempt wages.\n\n[Regulation 6 inserted: SL 2020/245 r. 5.]\n\n##### 7. Exempt wages: apprenticeship commencements subsidised exempt wages\n\nFor the purposes of section 6(c) of the Act, apprenticeship commencements subsidised exempt wages are prescribed as exempt.\n\n[Regulation 7 inserted: SL 2020/245 r. 5.]\n\n![]()\n\nNotes\n\nThis is a compilation of the *Pay-roll Tax Relief (COVID-19 Response) Regulations 2020* and includes amendments made by other written laws. For provisions that have come into operation see the compilation table.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Citation** | **Published** | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| *Pay-roll Tax Relief (COVID-19 Response) Regulations 2020* | SL 2020/178   25 Sep 2020 | r. 1 and 2: 25 Sep 2020 (see r. 2(a));   Regulations other than r. 1 and 2: 26 Sep 2020 (see r. 2(b)) |\n| *Pay‑roll Tax Relief (COVID‑19 Response) Amendment Regulations 2020* | SL 2020/245 18 Dec 2020 | r. 1 and 2: 18 Dec 2020 (see r. 2(a));   Regulations other than r. 1 and 2: 19 Dec 2020 (see r. 2(b)) |\n\n\nDefined terms\n\n*[This is a list of terms defined and the provisions where they are defined. The list is not part of the law.]*\n\n**Defined term Provision(s)**\n\napprenticeship commencements subsidised exempt wages 3\n\napprenticeship commencements wage subsidy 3\n\njobkeeper (extended) subsidised exempt wages 3\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The regulations remain tightly focused on their original purpose: providing payroll tax exemptions for wages subsidised by specific Commonwealth COVID-19 support programs. The amendments added a second category of exempt wages (apprenticeship commencements) but this is consistent with the original intent of implementing payroll tax relief for federally subsidised wages during the pandemic emergency period."},"complexity_factors":["Very short document (7 substantive regulations)","Only 3 defined terms, all clearly explained","Minimal cross-referencing (only references to the parent Act's definitions and section 6(c))","Simple conditional logic — wages are exempt if they meet the defined criteria and fall within the specified date ranges","No nested exceptions or complex provisos","Straightforward temporal boundaries (fixed start and end dates)"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a Western Australian regulation that gives businesses a tax break on their payroll tax during the COVID-19 pandemic.\n\n**What it does:**\nNormally, employers in WA must pay payroll tax on the wages they pay to workers. This regulation makes certain wages **exempt** (not taxable) if they were subsidised by specific Commonwealth government COVID-19 support programs.\n\n**Specifically, it exempts two types of wages from payroll tax:**\n\n1. **JobKeeper (extended) subsidised wages** — Wages paid between 28 September 2020 and 28 March 2021 that were covered by the federal JobKeeper payment scheme (the extended version of the wage subsidy program).\n\n2. **Apprenticeship commencements subsidised wages** — Wages paid between 5 October 2020 and 30 September 2021 that were subsidised by the federal \"Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements\" wage subsidy (a program encouraging employers to hire new apprentices or trainees).\n\n**Who it affects:**\nWestern Australian employers who received these federal subsidies and paid wages during the specified time periods. They don't have to pay payroll tax on the subsidised portions of those wages.\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis prevents \"double dipping\" by the tax office — ensuring businesses aren't taxed by the state on money that was essentially a federal government handout to keep people employed during the pandemic. It reduces the payroll tax burden for businesses that kept workers on through JobKeeper or hired new apprentices."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The regulations were amended after initial publication (SL 2020/178, 25 Sep 2020) by SL 2020/245 (published 18 Dec 2020, operative 19 Dec 2020). The amendment inserted new definitions and prescribed emergency periods and exemptions for apprenticeship commencements wage subsidies and clarified the JobKeeper (extended) exempt period (JobKeeper (extended) period: 28 Sep 2020–28 Mar 2021; Apprenticeship commencements period: 5 Oct 2020–30 Sep 2021)."},"complexity_factors":["Narrow, specific subject matter — prescribes exemption status for only two named subsidy types (JobKeeper (extended) and Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements).","Time‑limited rules — each exemption is confined to a defined ‘emergency period’ with explicit start and end dates.","Cross‑references to the parent Act — relies on the Pay‑roll Tax Relief (COVID‑19 Response) Act 2020 definitions and provisions (see references to s.4(2) paragraph (c) and s.6(c)).","Explicit definitional limits — subsidies only exempt the subsidised portions of wages, excluding any non‑subsidised parts.","Amendments and insertions — later amendment instrument (SL 2020/245) added definitions and prescribed periods, so users must track the compilation table and amendment history."],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations make certain Commonwealth COVID‑19 wage subsidies exempt from Western Australian payroll tax for specified temporary periods. They identify wages subsidised by the JobKeeper (extended) payment and the Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements payment and remove the subsidised portions from the payroll tax base. Employers who receive those subsidies pay no payroll tax on the subsidised parts of wages; payroll administrators must recognise subsidy status when assessing payroll tax liability."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed as the legislative text was not retrievable. The page has been removed from the Western Australian legislation website due to system upgrades. No comparison between original intent and final form is possible."},"complexity_factors":["The actual legislative text is unavailable — only a webpage error message was provided","No substantive legal content could be analysed","Complexity cannot be meaningfully assessed without the text","Score of 1 reflects absence of content, not simplicity of the law itself"],"plain_english_summary":"Likely a temporary Western Australian regulation adjusting payroll tax as part of the COVID‑19 economic response. It aimed to ease the tax burden on employers—particularly small and medium businesses—by providing relief measures (such as reductions, deferrals, or exemptions) during the pandemic. This mattered because it reduced immediate payroll costs and supported business cash flow while emergency conditions persisted."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/pay-roll-tax-relief-covid-19-response-regulations-2020","history":"/api/acts/pay-roll-tax-relief-covid-19-response-regulations-2020/history","analysis":"/api/acts/pay-roll-tax-relief-covid-19-response-regulations-2020/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/pay-roll-tax-relief-covid-19-response-regulations-2020/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/pay-roll-tax-relief-covid-19-response-regulations-2020/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/pay-roll-tax-relief-covid-19-response-regulations-2020/documents"}}