Part I
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Commonwealth act
This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.
This Act sets out how pay‑roll tax on wages is imposed, assessed and collected: employers are liable, must lodge returns, keep records, and pay tax subject to specified deductions and exemptions, and the Commissioner administers assessment, secrecy and recovery powers. It also creates a detailed export‑rebate regime that rewards increased export sales through certificates, caps and review processes — imposing additional declaration, record and penalty obligations on exporters, suppliers, agents, trustees and executors. Who pays: employers; who decides: Commissioner, Treasurer, Secretary and the Tribunal.
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Direct links to the current provisions in Pay-roll Tax Assessment Act 1941.
This Act may be cited as the Pay‑roll Tax Assessment Act 1941.
(1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:
agent includes every person who in Australia, for or on behalf of any person out of Australia (in this section called the principal), holds or has the management or control of the business of his principal, and every person declared by the Commissioner to be an agent or the sole agent for any person for the purposes of this Act.
company includes all bodies or associations (corporate or unincorporate) and partnerships.
Deputy Commissioner means a Deputy Commissioner of Taxation.
employer means any person who pays or is liable to pay any wages and includes:
(a) the Crown in the right of a State;
(b) a municipal corporation or other local governing body or a public authority constituted under any State Act;
(c) any public authority constituted under any Act or under any law in force in a Territory of the Commonwealth the wages paid by which are not paid out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
liquidator means the person who, whether or not appointed as liquidator, is the person required by law to carry out the winding up of a company.
person includes a company.
Second Commissioner means a Second Commissioner of Taxation.
tax means the tax imposed by the Pay‑roll Tax Act 1941.
the Commissioner means the Commissioner of Taxation.
Tribunal means the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
trustee, in addition to every person appointed or constituted trustee by act of parties, by order or declaration of a court, or by operation of law, includes:
(a) an executor or administrator, guardian, committee, receiver or liquidator; and
(b) every person having or taking upon himself the administration or control of any real or personal property affected by any express or implied trust, or acting in any fiduciary capacity, or having the possession, control or management of any real or personal property of a person under any legal or other disability.
wages means any wages, salary, commission, bonuses or allowances paid or payable (whether at piece work rates or otherwise and whether paid or payable in cash or in kind) to any employee as such and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes:
(a) any payment made under any prescribed classes of contracts to the extent to which that payment is attributable to labour;
(b) any payment made by a company by way of remuneration to a director of that company;
(c) any payment made by way of commission to an insurance or time‑payment canvasser or collector; and
(d) the provision by the employer of meals or sustenance or the use of premises or quarters as consideration or part consideration for the employee’s services.
(2) For the purposes of this Act meals or sustenance provided by an employer shall be deemed to have a value of One dollar fifty cents per week or, in any particular case or class of cases, such other value as is prescribed, and the use of premises or quarters provided by an employer shall be deemed to have a value of Fifty cents per week or, in any particular case or class of cases, such other value as is prescribed. (3) Where any wages are paid or payable in respect of any service performed or rendered, those wages shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to have been paid, or to be payable, as the case may be, in respect of the period of time in which that service was performed or rendered.
The Commissioner shall have the general administration of this Act.
(1) Subject to this section, a Second Commissioner shall have and may exercise all the powers and functions of the Commissioner under this Act. (2) Where in this Act the exercise of any power or function by the Commissioner or the operation of any provision of this Act is dependent upon the opinion, belief or state of mind of the Commissioner in relation to any matter, that power or function may be exercised by a Second Commissioner or that provision may operate (as the case may be) upon the opinion, belief or state of mind of a Second Commissioner in relation to that matter. (3) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to confer upon a Second Commissioner any power or function of the Commissioner under section four or ten of this Act, or to prevent the exercise of any power or function by the Commissioner under this Act, and the Commissioner shall have, in relation to any act of a Second Commissioner, the same power as if that act were done by himself.
Any reference in this Act to the Commissioner shall be deemed to include: (a) in respect of matters as to which a Second Commissioner has exercised any power or function conferred upon him by this Act—a reference to that Second Commissioner; and (b) in respect of matters as to which a Deputy Commissioner has exercised any power or function conferred upon him by delegation—a reference to that Deputy Commissioner.
(1) The Commissioner shall furnish to the Treasurer annually, for presentation to the Parliament, a report on the working of this Act. (2) In the report the Commissioner shall draw attention to any breaches or evasions of this Act which have come under his notice.
(1) Every person executing any power or duty conferred or imposed on an officer under this Act or the Regulations thereunder shall, before entering upon his duties or exercising any power under this Act, make before a Justice of the Peace or a Commissioner for taking Affidavits or a Commissioner for Declarations, a declaration in the form prescribed. (2) Any person who acts in the execution of any duty under this Act, or the Regulations thereunder, before he has made the prescribed declaration, or who after making the declaration makes a record of or divulges any information relating to the affairs of a person except in the performance of any duty under this Act shall be guilty of an offence.
Penalty: Five hundred dollars.
(3) Any person who has been an officer or has performed any duty under this Act, and who communicates any information acquired by him in the performance of any duty under this Act or the Regulations thereunder to any person, other than a person to whom he is authorized by the Commissioner, a Second Commissioner or a Deputy Commissioner to communicate it, shall be guilty of an offence.
Penalty: Five hundred dollars.
(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, the Commissioner, a Second Commissioner or a Deputy Commissioner may communicate any matter, which comes to his knowledge in the performance of his official duties, to the Tribunal in connection with proceedings under an Act of which the Commissioner has the general administration, to the Commissioner of Income Tax for any State, or the officer or authority administering any Act of a State relating to Stamp Duties or Succession Duties (who is authorized by law to afford similar information to the Commissioner, a Second Commissioner or a Deputy Commissioner) or to the Comptroller‑General of Customs. (5) Where any matter is communicated to the Tribunal in pursuance of this section and that matter consists of returns or declarations, or information derived from the returns or declarations, of a person other than the employer directly concerned in the review in the course of which the communication is made, the members of the Tribunal shall be subject to the same obligation as is imposed by subsection (3) of this section upon a person who has been an officer under this Act. (6) An officer shall not be required to produce in any court any return, assessment or notice of assessment, or to divulge or communicate to any court any matter or thing coming under his notice in the performance of his duties under this Act except as may be necessary for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of this Act. (7) Where the Treasurer is satisfied that it is desirable to do so for the purpose of enabling the Government of the Commonwealth to review the operation of the provisions of this Act, relating to rebates of tax by reference to exports, he may, by writing under his hand, request the Commissioner to communicate to him, or to a person specified in the request, being a Minister of State, the Secretary to the Department of the Treasury or the Secretary to the Department of Trade and Resources, information relating to such matters as are specified in the request, and, notwithstanding anything contained in this section, the Commissioner, or an officer authorized by him, shall communicate information relating to those matters to the person specified in the request. (8) The Secretary to the Department of the Treasury, the Secretary to the Department of Trade and Resources or any other officer or employee of the Commonwealth shall not, either while he is, or after he ceases to be, such an officer or employee: (a) except in the performance of a duty as an officer or employee of the Commonwealth, make a record of, or divulge or communicate to a Minister of State or any other officer or employee of the Commonwealth, any information relating to the affairs of a person acquired by him by reason, directly or indirectly, of a communication in accordance with the last preceding subsection; or (b) divulge or communicate any such information to any person who is not a Minister of State or officer or employee of the Commonwealth.
Penalty: Five hundred dollars.
(9) A person to whom the last preceding subsection applies shall not be required to produce in any court a document containing information referred to in that subsection or to divulge or communicate to a court any such information.
Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.
This Act may be cited as the Pay‑roll Tax Assessment Act 1941.
(1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:
agent includes every person who in Australia, for or on behalf of any person out of Australia (in this section called the principal), holds or has the management or control of the business of his principal, and every person declared by the Commissioner to be an agent or the sole agent for any person for the purposes of this Act.
company includes all bodies or associations (corporate or unincorporate) and partnerships.
Deputy Commissioner means a Deputy Commissioner of Taxation.
employer means any person who pays or is liable to pay any wages and includes:
(a) the Crown in the right of a State;
(b) a municipal corporation or other local governing body or a public authority constituted under any State Act;
(c) any public authority constituted under any Act or under any law in force in a Territory of the Commonwealth the wages paid by which are not paid out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
liquidator means the person who, whether or not appointed as liquidator, is the person required by law to carry out the winding up of a company.
person includes a company.
Second Commissioner means a Second Commissioner of Taxation.
tax means the tax imposed by the Pay‑roll Tax Act 1941.
the Commissioner means the Commissioner of Taxation.
Tribunal means the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
trustee, in addition to every person appointed or constituted trustee by act of parties, by order or declaration of a court, or by operation of law, includes:
(a) an executor or administrator, guardian, committee, receiver or liquidator; and
(b) every person having or taking upon himself the administration or control of any real or personal property affected by any express or implied trust, or acting in any fiduciary capacity, or having the possession, control or management of any real or personal property of a person under any legal or other disability.
wages means any wages, salary, commission, bonuses or allowances paid or payable (whether at piece work rates or otherwise and whether paid or payable in cash or in kind) to any employee as such and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes:
(a) any payment made under any prescribed classes of contracts to the extent to which that payment is attributable to labour;
(b) any payment made by a company by way of remuneration to a director of that company;
(c) any payment made by way of commission to an insurance or time‑payment canvasser or collector; and
(d) the provision by the employer of meals or sustenance or the use of premises or quarters as consideration or part consideration for the employee’s services.
(2) For the purposes of this Act meals or sustenance provided by an employer shall be deemed to have a value of One dollar fifty cents per week or, in any particular case or class of cases, such other value as is prescribed, and the use of premises or quarters provided by an employer shall be deemed to have a value of Fifty cents per week or, in any particular case or class of cases, such other value as is prescribed. (3) Where any wages are paid or payable in respect of any service performed or rendered, those wages shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to have been paid, or to be payable, as the case may be, in respect of the period of time in which that service was performed or rendered.
The Commissioner shall have the general administration of this Act.
(1) Subject to this section, a Second Commissioner shall have and may exercise all the powers and functions of the Commissioner under this Act. (2) Where in this Act the exercise of any power or function by the Commissioner or the operation of any provision of this Act is dependent upon the opinion, belief or state of mind of the Commissioner in relation to any matter, that power or function may be exercised by a Second Commissioner or that provision may operate (as the case may be) upon the opinion, belief or state of mind of a Second Commissioner in relation to that matter. (3) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to confer upon a Second Commissioner any power or function of the Commissioner under section four or ten of this Act, or to prevent the exercise of any power or function by the Commissioner under this Act, and the Commissioner shall have, in relation to any act of a Second Commissioner, the same power as if that act were done by himself.
Any reference in this Act to the Commissioner shall be deemed to include: (a) in respect of matters as to which a Second Commissioner has exercised any power or function conferred upon him by this Act—a reference to that Second Commissioner; and (b) in respect of matters as to which a Deputy Commissioner has exercised any power or function conferred upon him by delegation—a reference to that Deputy Commissioner.
(1) The Commissioner shall furnish to the Treasurer annually, for presentation to the Parliament, a report on the working of this Act. (2) In the report the Commissioner shall draw attention to any breaches or evasions of this Act which have come under his notice.
(1) Every person executing any power or duty conferred or imposed on an officer under this Act or the Regulations thereunder shall, before entering upon his duties or exercising any power under this Act, make before a Justice of the Peace or a Commissioner for taking Affidavits or a Commissioner for Declarations, a declaration in the form prescribed. (2) Any person who acts in the execution of any duty under this Act, or the Regulations thereunder, before he has made the prescribed declaration, or who after making the declaration makes a record of or divulges any information relating to the affairs of a person except in the performance of any duty under this Act shall be guilty of an offence.
Penalty: Five hundred dollars.
(3) Any person who has been an officer or has performed any duty under this Act, and who communicates any information acquired by him in the performance of any duty under this Act or the Regulations thereunder to any person, other than a person to whom he is authorized by the Commissioner, a Second Commissioner or a Deputy Commissioner to communicate it, shall be guilty of an offence.
Penalty: Five hundred dollars.
(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, the Commissioner, a Second Commissioner or a Deputy Commissioner may communicate any matter, which comes to his knowledge in the performance of his official duties, to the Tribunal in connection with proceedings under an Act of which the Commissioner has the general administration, to the Commissioner of Income Tax for any State, or the officer or authority administering any Act of a State relating to Stamp Duties or Succession Duties (who is authorized by law to afford similar information to the Commissioner, a Second Commissioner or a Deputy Commissioner) or to the Comptroller‑General of Customs. (5) Where any matter is communicated to the Tribunal in pursuance of this section and that matter consists of returns or declarations, or information derived from the returns or declarations, of a person other than the employer directly concerned in the review in the course of which the communication is made, the members of the Tribunal shall be subject to the same obligation as is imposed by subsection (3) of this section upon a person who has been an officer under this Act. (6) An officer shall not be required to produce in any court any return, assessment or notice of assessment, or to divulge or communicate to any court any matter or thing coming under his notice in the performance of his duties under this Act except as may be necessary for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of this Act. (7) Where the Treasurer is satisfied that it is desirable to do so for the purpose of enabling the Government of the Commonwealth to review the operation of the provisions of this Act, relating to rebates of tax by reference to exports, he may, by writing under his hand, request the Commissioner to communicate to him, or to a person specified in the request, being a Minister of State, the Secretary to the Department of the Treasury or the Secretary to the Department of Trade and Resources, information relating to such matters as are specified in the request, and, notwithstanding anything contained in this section, the Commissioner, or an officer authorized by him, shall communicate information relating to those matters to the person specified in the request. (8) The Secretary to the Department of the Treasury, the Secretary to the Department of Trade and Resources or any other officer or employee of the Commonwealth shall not, either while he is, or after he ceases to be, such an officer or employee: (a) except in the performance of a duty as an officer or employee of the Commonwealth, make a record of, or divulge or communicate to a Minister of State or any other officer or employee of the Commonwealth, any information relating to the affairs of a person acquired by him by reason, directly or indirectly, of a communication in accordance with the last preceding subsection; or (b) divulge or communicate any such information to any person who is not a Minister of State or officer or employee of the Commonwealth.
Penalty: Five hundred dollars.
(9) A person to whom the last preceding subsection applies shall not be required to produce in any court a document containing information referred to in that subsection or to divulge or communicate to a court any such information.
An Act relating to the Imposition, Assessment and Collection of a Tax upon the Payment of Wages
This Act may be cited as the Pay‑roll Tax Assessment Act 1941.
(1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:
agent includes every person who in Australia, for or on behalf of any person out of Australia (in this section called the principal), holds or has the management or control of the business of his principal, and every person declared by the Commissioner to be an agent or the sole agent for any person for the purposes of this Act.
company includes all bodies or associations (corporate or unincorporate) and partnerships.
Deputy Commissioner means a Deputy Commissioner of Taxation.
employer means any person who pays or is liable to pay any wages and includes:
(a) the Crown in the right of a State;
(b) a municipal corporation or other local governing body or a public authority constituted under any State Act;
(c) any public authority constituted under any Act or under any law in force in a Territory of the Commonwealth the wages paid by which are not paid out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
liquidator means the person who, whether or not appointed as liquidator, is the person required by law to carry out the winding up of a company.
person includes a company.
Second Commissioner means a Second Commissioner of Taxation.
tax means the tax imposed by the Pay‑roll Tax Act 1941.
the Commissioner means the Commissioner of Taxation.
Tribunal means the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
trustee, in addition to every person appointed or constituted trustee by act of parties, by order or declaration of a court, or by operation of law, includes:
(a) an executor or administrator, guardian, committee, receiver or liquidator; and
(b) every person having or taking upon himself the administration or control of any real or personal property affected by any express or implied trust, or acting in any fiduciary capacity, or having the possession, control or management of any real or personal property of a person under any legal or other disability.
wages means any wages, salary, commission, bonuses or allowances paid or payable (whether at piece work rates or otherwise and whether paid or payable in cash or in kind) to any employee as such and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes:
(a) any payment made under any prescribed classes of contracts to the extent to which that payment is attributable to labour;
(b) any payment made by a company by way of remuneration to a director of that company;
(c) any payment made by way of commission to an insurance or time‑payment canvasser or collector; and
(d) the provision by the employer of meals or sustenance or the use of premises or quarters as consideration or part consideration for the employee’s services.
(2) For the purposes of this Act meals or sustenance provided by an employer shall be deemed to have a value of One dollar fifty cents per week or, in any particular case or class of cases, such other value as is prescribed, and the use of premises or quarters provided by an employer shall be deemed to have a value of Fifty cents per week or, in any particular case or class of cases, such other value as is prescribed. (3) Where any wages are paid or payable in respect of any service performed or rendered, those wages shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to have been paid, or to be payable, as the case may be, in respect of the period of time in which that service was performed or rendered.
The Commissioner shall have the general administration of this Act.
(1) Subject to this section, a Second Commissioner shall have and may exercise all the powers and functions of the Commissioner under this Act. (2) Where in this Act the exercise of any power or function by the Commissioner or the operation of any provision of this Act is dependent upon the opinion, belief or state of mind of the Commissioner in relation to any matter, that power or function may be exercised by a Second Commissioner or that provision may operate (as the case may be) upon the opinion, belief or state of mind of a Second Commissioner in relation to that matter. (3) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to confer upon a Second Commissioner any power or function of the Commissioner under section four or ten of this Act, or to prevent the exercise of any power or function by the Commissioner under this Act, and the Commissioner shall have, in relation to any act of a Second Commissioner, the same power as if that act were done by himself.
Any reference in this Act to the Commissioner shall be deemed to include: (a) in respect of matters as to which a Second Commissioner has exercised any power or function conferred upon him by this Act—a reference to that Second Commissioner; and (b) in respect of matters as to which a Deputy Commissioner has exercised any power or function conferred upon him by delegation—a reference to that Deputy Commissioner.
(1) The Commissioner shall furnish to the Treasurer annually, for presentation to the Parliament, a report on the working of this Act. (2) In the report the Commissioner shall draw attention to any breaches or evasions of this Act which have come under his notice.
(1) Every person executing any power or duty conferred or imposed on an officer under this Act
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