85Special provision if wages fluctuate

85 Special provision if wages fluctuate (1) This section applies if a person did not pay and was not liable to pay taxable wages or interstate wages for any part of a financial year. (2) If the person satisfies the commissioner that, because of the nature of the person’s trade or business, the taxable wages and interstate wages, if any, paid or payable by the person fluctuate with different periods of the financial year, the commissioner may decide that the person must be treated for this part— (a) if the person has conducted the trade or business in Australia in all of the financial year—as an employer who pays or is liable to pay taxable wages throughout that financial year; or

(b) if the person has conducted the trade or business in Australia in part only of the financial year—as an employer who pays or is liable to pay taxable wages throughout that part of the financial The effect of a decision under this section is that when the correct amount of payroll tax is worked out (for a tax adjustment provided for by this part) the employer may receive the benefit of the payroll tax threshold for the period for which the employer must be treated as paying wages, and not just for the period for which the employer actually pays wages. Without the decision, an employer may only receive the benefit of a proportion of the threshold amount that is equivalent to the proportion of the whole financial year for which the employer actually pays wages.