18Inclusion of grant of shares and options as wages

18 Inclusion of grant of shares and options as wages

(1)  [Section 18 Subsection (1) substituted by No. 47 of 2011, s. 18, Applied:01 Jul 2012] For the purposes of this Act, "wages" include the grant of a share or option to an employee by an employer in respect of services performed by the employee if the share or option is an ESS interest (within the meaning of section 83A-10 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 of the Commonwealth) and is granted to the employee under an employee share scheme (within the meaning of that section).

| Note: A grant of a share or an option to an employee by an employer that is not an ESS interest will be taxable as a fringe benefit under Division 2 of this Part. |

(2)  Any such wages are taken, for the purpose of the imposition of payroll tax, to be paid or payable on the relevant day.

(3)  For the purposes of this Division, the "relevant day" is the day that the employer elects in accordance with this Division to treat as the day on which the wages are paid or payable.

(4)  To avoid doubt, the grant of a share or option is valuable consideration for the purposes of section 46 .