Payroll Tax Regulations 2025

The Regulations rest on a small set of statutory concepts and cross‑references. Those concepts determine what is exempted, when, and for whom.

Exempt wages. The instrument repeatedly uses the term "exempt wages" and declares particular percentages or whole amounts of wages to be exempt wages for the purposes of specific Schedule 2 clauses of the Payroll Tax Act 2009 (see r 4(1), r 5(2), r 6(2)). This is a statutory reclassification of part or all of particular wage streams out of the payroll tax base.

Relevant contract. The Regulations depend on the Act's concept of a "relevant contract", which the Regulations do not define internally but adopt by cross‑reference to s 32 of the Act (r 3). Application therefore requires determining whether an engagement falls within that Act‑level definition.

Designated/prescribed practices. Two different "prescribed" or "designated" practice categories appear. Regulation 4 refers to a "designated medical practice" (r 4(1)) without further internal definition; regulations 5 and 6 define "prescribed medical practice" and "prescribed dental practice" differently: for reg 5, prescribed medical practice means a practice that successfully applied for the payroll tax amnesty approved by the Treasurer on 22 June 2023 (r 5(4)); for reg 6, prescribed medical and dental practices means practices registered as employers under the Act prior to 1 July 2024 (r 6(4)). The effect is that eligiblity depends on different administrative facts depending on the exemption route.

Activity ratio for bulk billed GPs. Regulation 4(2) establishes that the percentage of wages exempted (A) is determined according to a formula using two counts: B, the total number of bulk billed services (excluding specified service kinds) provided by GPs engaged by the designated medical practice during the prescribed period; and C, the total number of medical services (excluding the same kinds) provided by those GPs during the prescribed period (r 4(2)). The Regulations specify which service kinds are excluded from those counts by reference to Commonwealth instruments (r 4(3)), and which kinds of medical practitioners qualify as "general practitioners" for the purpose of applying that formula (r 4(4)). The prescribed period is the financial year commencing 1 July 2024 or 1 July in any subsequent year (r 4(5)).

Temporal scope and retrospection. Regulations 5 and 6 apply to specified historic financial years. Regulation 5 applies to financial years commencing 1 July 2018 through 1 July 2023 (r 5(3)). Regulation 6 applies to financial years commencing 1 July 2019 through 1 July 2023 (r 6(3)). Regulation 4 applies prospectively to financial years commencing 1 July 2024 and later (r 4(5)). The instrument therefore contains both prospective and retrospective operative elements.

Inter‑jurisdictional cross‑references. The Regulations rely on definitions and exclusions in Commonwealth legislation and regulation (the Health Insurance Act 1973 and the Health Insurance (General Medical Services Table) Regulations 2021) and on the South Australian Return to Work Act 2014 (and "corresponding law") (r 4(3)-(5)). Users must therefore apply Commonwealth definitions and South Australian statutory terms to determine which services and which practitioners are captured.

Condition that payroll tax has not been paid. For the retrospective exemptions in regs 5 and 6, the prescribed circumstances include the factual condition that payroll tax has not been paid on the wages in question (r 5(1)(b); r 6(1)(b)). That condition shapes who benefits: only those wages on which no payroll tax has been paid become declared exempt wages under these provisions.

Operation "for the purposes of" Schedule 2. Each exemption is declared "for the purposes of" particular clauses of Schedule 2 of the Act (r 4(1) references Schedule 2 cl 17B(1); r 5 and r 6 reference Schedule 2 cl 17C(1)). The Regulations therefore operate as subordinate legislation that modifies how those Schedule 2 provisions operate in these particular factual circumstances.

Commencement. The Regulations commence the day they were made (r 2). The Legislative history shows Gazette publication on 20 February 2025 (Legislative history). That timing affects when the prospective formula in r 4 begins to operate and when any relevant administrative implementation must be in place.

The Regulations affect a limited, identifiable set of parties by changing the tax status of wages paid in particular circumstances.

Medical practices that employ or engage general practitioners, other medical practitioners, and dentists. The principal parties whose payroll tax liability changes are medical and dental practices described as "designated" or "prescribed" in the Regulations. For reg 4 the term used is "designated medical practice" (r 4(1)). For the retrospective exemptions, "prescribed medical practice" and "prescribed dental practice" are defined in regs 5(4) and 6(4) respectively. In reg 5 the prescribed medical practice class is narrow: practices that successfully applied for the payroll tax amnesty approved by the Treasurer on 22 June 2023. In reg 6 the prescribed classes are those practices that were registered as employers under the Act prior to 1 July 2024. The practical consequence is that different cohorts of practices are affected by different parts of the instrument.

General practitioners and other medical practitioners and dentists. The Regulations operate by reference to the engagements of specific categories of clinicians. Regulation 4 targets general practitioners providing bulk billed services and defines which kinds of medical practitioner qualify as a general practitioner for this purpose by cross‑reference to the Health Insurance Act 1973 and to particular registration or exemption circumstances (r 4(4)). Regulations 5 and 6 address general practitioners, other medical practitioners (non‑GPs), and dentists engaged under relevant contracts (rr 5(1), 6(1)). The immediate beneficiaries of the exemption are the employer practices; clinicians’ take‑home pay is not altered directly by the Regulations, but the tax cost borne by their employer may change which can affect the economics of contractual arrangements between practices and practitioners.

Employers who have already paid payroll tax on relevant wages. The Regulations explicitly condition the retrospective exemptions on payroll tax having not been paid on the wages in question (r 5(1)(b), r 6(1)(b)). That means employers who already paid payroll tax on those wages are not within the prescribed circumstances for those retrospective exemptions as drafted. Those employers may not obtain the declared exemption under regs 5 or 6 for those wages.

Tax administrators and the Treasurer. The operation of reg 5 depends on an administrative act: a list of practices that successfully applied for the payroll tax amnesty and were approved by the Treasurer on 22 June 2023 (r 5(4)). That identifies the Treasurer and the amnesty approval process as decision points that determine which entities are "prescribed medical practices" for the reg 5 exemption.

Persons and records required for calculation. The formula in reg 4 requires practices to compute counts of bulk billed services (B) and total medical services (C) during the prescribed period, excluding certain service kinds (r 4(2)-(3)). That imposes a recordkeeping and counting obligation on the practice, its billing or administrative staff, and whoever prepares its payroll tax returns.

Other instruments and agencies. Businesses must consult Commonwealth instruments such as the Health Insurance (General Medical Services Table) Regulations 2021 to determine which services are excluded from the counts in reg 4 and whether a medical practitioner satisfies the Health Insurance Act definitions cited in r 4(4). The Return to Work Act 2014 and its concept of "corresponding law" are also relevant (r 4(3), r 4(5)).

Time periods. The Regulations affect conduct across multiple financial years: reg 4 applies to the financial year commencing 1 July 2024 and later (r 4(5)); regs 5 and 6 apply to specific prior financial years (r 5(3), r 6(3)). Affected employers therefore include those with payroll activity in the specified retrospective years as well as prospective years.

In short, the measures principally change the payroll tax incidence for specified employer classes operating medical and dental practices, conditioned on contractual status of clinicians, the practice’s administrative status (amnesty recipient or prior employer registration), the activity mix of services (bulk billed share), and whether payroll tax has previously been paid on the relevant wages.

The Regulations create duties and impose requirements indirectly by altering how wages are classified for payroll tax purposes. They do not themselves specify administrative procedures like notification or refund processes, but they create practical duties that follow from the exemption rules and from the cross‑references to other laws.

Calculation and recordkeeping duties for designated medical practices (r 4). A designated medical practice that wishes to claim the percentage exemption under r 4 must determine the percentage A using the formula specified in r 4(2), which requires counting B and C, the numbers of bulk‑billed services and total medical services respectively, during the prescribed period. The practice must distinguish services of the kind referred to in Schedule 1 Part 3 Division 3.2 of the Commonwealth Health Insurance (General Medical Services Table) Regulations 2021, because those kinds are excluded from B and C under r 4(2) and r 4(3). The practice must also determine which practitioners are "general practitioners" under r 4(4) by applying the cross‑referenced definitions in the Health Insurance Act 1973 and the registration or exemption conditions in that Act. Duty bearers therefore must maintain accurate service counts and practitioner status records for the prescribed period (r 4(5)).

Duty to confirm whether payroll tax has been paid (rr 5(1)(b), 6(1)(b)). For the retrospective exemptions in regs 5 and 6, the prescribed circumstances expressly include the condition that payroll tax has not been paid on the wages in question. An employer seeking the declared exemption must therefore determine and be able to evidence that payroll tax has not been paid on those wages in the specified financial years. That creates a due diligence duty to check past payroll tax filings and payments.

Duty to check eligibility criteria for prescribed practices (rr 5(4), 6(4)). For reg 5, the employer must be a practice that "successfully applied for the payroll tax amnesty for medical practices with contracted general practitioners approved by the Treasurer on 22 June 2023" (r 5(4)). That imposes an obligation on applicants to ensure they were part of that amnesty cohort, and to hold documentary evidence of successful application and Treasurer approval. For reg 6, an employer must have been registered as an employer under the Act prior to 1 July 2024 (r 6(4)). Proof of employer registration dates thus becomes material.

Cross‑reference duties. The Regulations incorporate external definitions and exclusions by reference. That creates a duty to consult and correctly apply Commonwealth law (Health Insurance Act and Health Insurance Regulations 2021) and the Return to Work Act 2014 for relevant meanings and exclusions (r 4(3)-(5)). An employer must apply those external definitions to its own service and practitioner data.

Rights to claim exemption. Where the factual prerequisites in the Regulations are met, an employer acquires a right to have the relevant wages treated as exempt wages for the purposes of the specified Schedule 2 provisions of the Payroll Tax Act. For r 4 that right is a percentage exemption calculated using the formula; for regs 5 and 6 the right is a declaration that all wages paid or payable in the prescribed circumstances are exempt wages (rr 5(2), 6(2)). The Regulations do not themselves prescribe administrative steps for claiming the exemption (such as filing amended returns), but the right exists statutoryly for payroll tax purposes.

Limits and exclusivity. The exemptions in regs 5 and 6 are expressly limited to wages on which payroll tax has not been paid (rr 5(1)(b), 6(1)(b)), which restricts the right to claim to those unpaid items. The definition of excluded service kinds in r 4(3) narrows which services contribute to the numerator and denominator when computing A. The Regulation text therefore creates boundaries for claiming the exemption.

Temporal duties. Employers must apply the correct temporal scope. Regulation 4 applies to the financial year commencing 1 July 2024 and subsequent years (r 4(5)), whereas regs 5 and 6 apply to specified earlier financial years (r 5(3), r 6(3)). Employers asserting retrospective exemptions must therefore map their payroll records to the correct financial years.

No penalties in these Regulations. The Regulations do not themselves set penalty amounts or enforcement mechanisms; enforcement and penalty matters remain those specified in the Payroll Tax Act 2009 and its Schedule 2 provisions to which these Regulations refer. The Regulations thereby create duties and rights that will be enforced under the parent Act rather than by new penalty provisions inside the Regulations.

The Regulations themselves do not create new penalty provisions or a standalone enforcement scheme. They operate by changing the tax classification of wages "for the purposes of" specified clauses in Schedule 2 of the Payroll Tax Act 2009 (see r 4(1), r 5(2), r 6(2)). Therefore, any enforcement, review, assessment, penalty or interest consequences for incorrect claims, non‑compliance, or disputes will be governed by the enforcement, penalty and objection provisions of the Act and existing administrative practices that apply to payroll tax under that Act.

Absence of specified penalties in the instrument. Nowhere in these Regulations are civil penalties, criminal offences, fine levels, interest rates, or specific audit powers provided. The Regulations make declaratory tax‑classification changes: they declare certain wages to be exempt wages and set the method for calculating a percentage exemption in one circumstance (r 4(2)). Because the instrument does not provide penalty or remedial procedures, the relevant enforcement mechanisms are those embedded in the parent Act and its Schedule 2 clauses to which these Regulations refer.

Implication for audit and verification. The formula in r 4(2) requires counting the number of bulk billed services and total medical services and exclusion of specified service kinds (r 4(3)). Tax administrators exercising audit or assessment functions under the Act will likely rely on practice records, Commonwealth billing records, and practitioner registration status to verify claims consistent with these Regulations. Regulation 5(4) also signals an administrative element: eligibility for that retrospective exemption depends on successful application for an amnesty approved by the Treasurer on a particular date; tax administrators will verify amnesty status as part of any compliance check. The Regulations thus increase the factual issues that can be the subject of verification and audit under the Act.

Consequences of false or erroneous claims. Although the Regulations do not state the consequences of an incorrect claim, making an incorrect claim that results in underpaid payroll tax would, under the Act, typically engage the Act’s assessment, objection and penalty regime. The Regulations change what is a taxable wage; an incorrect reclassification would therefore be dealt with under the Act’s existing enforcement processes rather than under new regulatory penalties.

Interaction with prior payments. For regs 5 and 6 the prescribed circumstances include the condition that payroll tax has not already been paid on the wages in question (rr 5(1)(b), 6(1)(b)). That wording suggests that the retrospective exemption is not framed as a refund mechanism for wages on which payroll tax was already paid; rather it applies only where payroll tax remains unpaid. How the Act and the Commissioner handle situations where tax has been paid but an exemption is later identified is a matter for the Act’s rules on amendments, refunds, and objections; the Regulations do not alter those processes.

Administrative discretion and the Treasurer’s role. The definition in r 5(4) identifies an administrative decision by the Treasurer (approval of amnesty applicants on 22 June 2023) as a gating fact for the reg 5 exemption. That places some discretion in an executive decision as to which practices become "prescribed". Any challenge to whether a practice is properly in the amnesty cohort would involve administrative law principles applied to the Treasurer’s decision, but the Regulations do not themselves specify internal review or appeal processes for that determination.

In short, enforcement of the classifications produced by these Regulations will occur through the Act’s established assessment, audit and penalty apparatus. The Regulations do not provide new sanctioning mechanics or compensation mechanisms; they create tax‑base changes that will be enforced and contested under the parent Act.

The Regulations are compact but they cross‑reference multiple provisions in the Payroll Tax Act 2009 and several external statutory instruments. These cross‑references shape eligibility, measurement and temporal scope.

Primary Act: Payroll Tax Act 2009. The Regulations operate "for the purposes of" specific Schedule 2 clauses of the Act: r 4 references Schedule 2 clause 17B(1) and clause 17B(4) (r 4(1), r 4(3)-(4)); regs 5 and 6 operate "for the purposes of" Schedule 2 clause 17C(1) (rr 5(1)-(2), 6(1)-(2)). The Regulations therefore modify how those Schedule 2 provisions apply to certain wages. The Regulations also adopt the Act’s term "relevant contract" by direct cross‑reference to s 32 of the Act in r 3. The effect is subordinate legislation operating within the Act’s statutory framework; substantive disputes about application of the exemptions will engage interpretation of both the Regulations and the referenced Schedule 2 clauses of the Act.

Commonwealth Health Insurance legislation. Regulation 4 instructs users to exclude services "of a kind referred to in Schedule 1 Part 3 Division 3.2 of the Health Insurance (General Medical Services Table) Regulations 2021 of the Commonwealth" from the counts used in the exemption formula (r 4(2)-(3)). Regulation 4(4) also prescribes kinds of medical practitioner by reference to section 3(1) paragraph (b) of the Health Insurance Act 1973 and to registration and exemption provisions in that Act (r 4(4)(a)-(b)). Therefore, the characterisation of services as excluded and the characterisation of practitioners as general practitioners rely on Commonwealth legislation and regulation. Employers must consult those Commonwealth instruments to determine what counts for the purposes of calculating A under r 4.

Return to Work Act and corresponding law. Regulation 4(3)(b) prescribes that a medical service provided under the Return to Work Act 2014, or under a corresponding law, is a kind of bulk billed service excluded from the formula’s B and C counts. The term "corresponding law" is given the same meaning as in the Return to Work Act 2014 by r 4(5). This ties the Regulation’s local payroll tax calculations to the South Australian workers’ compensation statutory landscape and any corresponding interstate laws recognised by that Act.

Administrative amnesty. Regulation 5(4) makes the reg 5 exemption conditional on having "successfully applied for the payroll tax amnesty for medical practices with contracted general practitioners approved by the Treasurer on 22 June 2023." This links the Regulations to a prior administrative amnesty exercise. Whether a practice participated in that amnesty and whether the Treasurer approved its application are matters external to the Regulations but determinative of eligibility.

Temporal interplay with employer registration rules. Regulation 6(4) defines "prescribed dental practice" and "prescribed medical practice" for reg 6 as practices "which was registered as an employer under the Act prior to 1 July 2024." That cross‑references the Act’s employer registration regime and makes prior registration status a key gating fact.

Hierarchy of instruments. The Regulations sit subordinate to the Act and subordinate to Commonwealth instruments for particular definitions. The Regulations therefore require practitioners, employers and advisers to read the subordinate instrument in the context of the Act and the cited Commonwealth laws and regulations. Discrepancies or ambiguous boundaries will be resolved by applying the interpretive hierarchy: Act first, then these Regulations, then any incorporated external instruments to the extent the Regulations adopt them.

No amendment of external law. The Regulations do not amend or override the Commonwealth Health Insurance Act or the Return to Work Act. They rely on those instruments for definitional purposes only.

In short, effective compliance requires cross‑jurisdictional legal reading: apply the Payroll Tax Act and Schedule 2 as modified by the Regulations; import definitions and exclusions from Commonwealth health insurance instruments; and apply South Australian Return to Work concepts where referenced. The Regulations therefore operate at the intersection of payroll tax rules, health billing rules, and employer registration and amnesty administrative decisions.

The Regulations contain a short legislative history entry in the instrument itself. There is a Principal regulations table showing:

• Year: 2025
• Number: 6
• Reference: Gazette 20.2.2025 p195
• Commencement: 20.2.2025: r 2

Regulation 2 states that these Regulations "come into operation on the day on which they are made." The Gazette reference and date indicate that the instrument was made and commenced on 20 February 2025 (Legislative history and rr 1-2). There are no further amendment entries recorded in the text provided. The instrument includes a general note directing readers to the Index of South Australian Statutes or the legislation.sa.gov.au website for further information relating to the Act and subordinate legislation made under the Act, but it does not list any earlier versions, revocations, or prior amending instruments (Legislative history notes).

Because the Regulations are new subordinate legislation dated 2025, any earlier regulatory frameworks or prior versions are not present in this text. The instrument itself does not record earlier provisional regulations, transitional provisions other than those expressly stated in regs 5 and 6, or sunset clauses. The temporal reach of the instrument is expressed through the specific financial years listed within regs 4, 5 and 6 rather than by amendment entries.

Practitioners reviewing the legislative history should therefore note:

• The Regulations were made and commenced on the same day, 20 February 2025 (r 2; Legislative history).
• The instrument’s substantive operative clauses specify the financial years affected by the exemptions in regs 4, 5 and 6 (r 4(5), r 5(3), r 6(3)), and those temporal specifications are the primary temporal markers contained within the Regulations.
• The reg 5 definition of "prescribed medical practice" refers to an administrative amnesty approved by the Treasurer on 22 June 2023 (r 5(4)). That amnesty event predates the Regulations and forms part of the factual matrix for reg 5; however no amending instrument altering this Regulation is recorded in the instrument’s legislative history section.

The instrument does not record any past judicial interpretations, subsequent amendments, repeals, or transitional instruments. For the most up to date amendment record and any subsequent changes, users are directed to the official legislative index as noted in the Legislative history notes.

The Regulations as provided contain no litigation history, case citations, or references to judicial or tribunal determinations. There are no named cases, no reported decisions, and no references to disputes or judicial interpretations in the text of the Regulations or in the Legislative history included.

Given that the text makes changes by declaring particular wages to be "exempt wages" for the purposes of Schedule 2 clauses of the Payroll Tax Act 2009, disputes arising from application of these Regulations could in principle give rise to assessments, objections and litigation under the Act. However, such litigation history is not present in the instrument and cannot be assumed. The instrument does not provide transitional dispute resolution procedures or mention any specific tribunal or court handling for challenges to the Treasurer’s amnesty approvals referenced in r 5(4).

Absence of litigation record in the text means:

• There are no judicially settled interpretations of the Regulations recorded here that would clarify issues such as the scope of "designated medical practice", the application of the formula in r 4(2), the meaning of "payroll tax has not been paid" for reg 5 and reg 6 purposes, or how the cross‑references to Commonwealth instruments are to be applied in close cases.
• Any questions about how courts or tribunals might construe the Regulations must therefore be approached by reference to the instrument itself and to the parent Act and to the general principles of statutory interpretation in Australia, but no jurisdictional precedents are supplied within the text.

Practitioners seeking litigation history or reported decisions that apply these Regulations should consult court databases and the public record external to the instrument; no such material is embedded in the Regulations as presented.

These Regulations are brief but contain several technical traps for practitioners. The following points are drawn strictly from the text and identify potential pitfalls where misapplication is likely.

Different definitions for "prescribed" practice across regs. The term "prescribed medical practice" is used in both regs 5 and 6 but carries different meanings. Regulation 5(4) defines a prescribed medical practice as a practice that successfully applied for the payroll tax amnesty approved by the Treasurer on 22 June 2023. Regulation 6(4) defines prescribed medical practice and prescribed dental practice as practices that were registered as an employer under the Act prior to 1 July 2024. A practice may qualify under one definition but not the other. Claiming the wrong exemption route based on an incorrect reading of "prescribed" could lead to a rejected claim. The Regulations therefore require careful matching of facts to the correct provision.

Retrospective application tied to unpaid tax. Regulations 5 and 6 apply only where "payroll tax has not been paid on those wages" (rr 5(1)(b), 6(1)(b)). That is a gating condition. Employers who have already paid payroll tax on the relevant wages appear, on the face of the instrument, to be outside the prescribed circumstances for those retrospective exemptions. Practices that have paid and now seek refunds must take care: the Regulations do not themselves create a mechanism for refunding paid tax. How the Act’s refund or amendment machinery interacts with these declarations is not specified in the Regulations and will require attention to the Act.

Formula relies on external exclusions and practitioner definitions. The A = function described in r 4(2) depends on counting bulk billed services (B) and total services (C) but explicitly excludes services "of a kind referred to in Schedule 1 Part 3 Division 3.2 of the Health Insurance (General Medical Services Table) Regulations 2021 of the Commonwealth" (r 4(3)). The practitioner categories used to determine who counts as a "general practitioner" for r 4 also depend on the Health Insurance Act 1973 (r 4(4)). Two consequences flow: practices must consult Commonwealth instruments to apply the formula correctly, and inconsistencies or updates in the Commonwealth instruments could affect the calculation. Practices must also be able to demonstrate the basis for counting or excluding particular services.

Unclear or absent formula text in the instrument. Regulation 4(2) states that the percentage of wages exempt is "to be determined according to the following formula" and then defines variables A, B and C. The instrument as provided specifies those variables but does not in the body of text as presented set out a mathematical expression beyond defining A as "the percentage of wages declared to be exempt wages for the prescribed period" and B and C as counts. Practitioners must therefore ensure they have the authoritative version of the Regulations and any accompanying explanatory material that sets out the exact mathematical relationship, because the variable definitions alone do not by themselves convert into an operational percentage without the actual formula. Relying on an incomplete formula representation could lead to incorrect computation.

Interaction with Commonwealth billing records. The B and C counts rely on identification of bulk billed service instances. Where billing is processed through MyMedicare or MyGov the practice’s internal records and Commonwealth claim data may differ. The Regulations require exclusion of certain service types identified in a Commonwealth instrument. Without reconciliation of internal billing to Commonwealth classification, an employer’s computed A could be inaccurate.

Temporal mapping of services to prescribed periods. Regulation 4(5) defines the prescribed period as the financial year commencing 1 July 2024 or 1 July in any subsequent year, whereas regs 5 and 6 operate over earlier financial years (r 5(3), r 6(3)). Employers must be precise about which financial year applies to which exemption path. Aggregating services across wrong financial years will distort A or wrongly trigger inapplicable retrospective exemptions.

Administrative evidence for amnesty approvals. Regulation 5(4) makes the reg 5 exemption conditional on the practice having "successfully applied" and been "approved by the Treasurer on 22 June 2023" for the payroll tax amnesty. Failure to hold documentary evidence of Treasurer approval or misunderstanding of which amnesty cohort applied could lead to denial of the reg 5 exemption. The Regulations do not state how a practice proves this beyond the text itself; practices should preserve the relevant amnesty application and approval records.

Scope of "deemed" wages. Regulations 5 and 6 refer to wages "paid or payable, or deemed by the Act to be paid or payable" (rr 5(1)(a), 6(1)(a)). That phrase pulls into scope not only cash wages paid but also wages that, under the Act, are treated as paid for payroll tax purposes. Practitioners must check the Act for any statutory deeming rules that create wage liabilities, because those deemed wages are eligible for these exemptions if other conditions are met.

No direction on claiming process. The Regulations declare exemptions but do not set out procedural steps for notifying the Commissioner, amending prior returns, or obtaining a refund where tax has been paid. Practitioners should not assume the Regulations themselves suffice to obtain an assessment change without following the Act’s administrative processes.

Cross‑jurisdictional dependency. Applying these Regulations requires reference to Commonwealth law. Any future changes to Commonwealth definitions or the Health Insurance Regulations 2021 could affect the application of r 4. Practices should monitor those instruments for changes.

In sum, the principal gotchas are definition mismatches between regs, retrospective gating conditions tied to unpaid tax, dependency on Commonwealth classifications, and the need for documentary evidence of amnesty approval and for robust recordkeeping to support counts and eligibility.

Compliance with these Regulations requires mapping factual circumstances to the precise statutory conditions, gathering documentary evidence, and applying cross‑referenced external instruments. The following steps are grounded in the Regulations’ text and identify concrete actions and the specific provisions that make them necessary.

1. Determine which provision applies to your practice.

   • If your practice seeks a percentage exemption for general practitioners providing bulk‑billed services in a financial year commencing 1 July 2024 or later, identify whether it is a "designated medical practice" for r 4(1). The formula and counts in r 4(2) apply only in that context.
   • If you seek a retrospective exemption for general practitioners under relevant contracts for FYs commencing 1 July 2018 through 1 July 2023, check eligibility under r 5(1)-(3).
   • If you seek a retrospective exemption for other medical practitioners or dentists under relevant contracts for FYs commencing 1 July 2019 through 1 July 2023, check r 6(1)-(3).
   • Match the practice’s factual circumstances to the correct regulation; avoid conflating the reg 5 and reg 6 definitions of "prescribed" practice (r 5(4); r 6(4)).

2. Verify administrative eligibility facts.

   • For reg 5: confirm you "successfully applied for the payroll tax amnesty for medical practices with contracted general practitioners approved by the Treasurer on 22 June 2023." Retain application and Treasurer approval documents (r 5(4)).
   • For reg 6: verify that the practice was registered as an employer under the Act prior to 1 July 2024 and retain proof of employer registration (r 6(4)).

3. Check payroll tax payment history.

   • For regs 5 and 6 the exemptions apply only where "payroll tax has not been paid on those wages" (rr 5(1)(b), 6(1)(b)). Review past payroll tax returns and payment records for the relevant financial years to determine whether payroll tax was paid on the wages in question. Document the findings.

4. Establish practitioner contractual status.

   • The exemptions in regs 5 and 6 apply to practitioners "engaged by the practice in the provision of medical services under a relevant contract" (rr 5(1)(a), 6(1)(a)). Determine whether each practitioner’s engagement fits the Act’s definition of "relevant contract" by reference to s 32 of the Payroll Tax Act 2009 (r 3). Keep copies of the relevant contracts and any correspondence about the contractual relationship.

5. For r 4, compute the percentage using the formula variables.

   • Collect counts for B and C for the prescribed period: B is total bulk billed services provided by GPs engaged by the practice during the prescribed period, excluding services of the kind referred to in Schedule 1 Part 3 Division 3.2 of the Health Insurance (General Medical Services Table) Regulations 2021; C is the total number of medical services provided by those GPs during the prescribed period, excluding the same kinds (r 4(2)-(3)). Maintain contemporaneous billing records to support these counts.
   • Confirm which practitioners are "general practitioners" under r 4(4) by applying the Health Insurance Act 1973 definitions and registration or exemption criteria. Maintain registration and Medicare/VIC/other identifier records showing practitioner status.

6. Exclude services specified in Commonwealth instruments.

   • Apply Schedule 1 Part 3 Division 3.2 of the Health Insurance (General Medical Services Table) Regulations 2021 to determine which services are excluded from B and C (r 4(3)). For services related to veterans or return to work, note the specific inclusions in r 4(3)(a)-(b) and confirm whether they are to be treated as prescribed kinds for the exclusion.

7. Preserve supporting evidence for counts and practitioner status.

   • Retain itemised service lists, Medicare bulk billing records, claims data, appointment or consultation logs, practitioner registration certificates, and copies of contracts. These documents will be necessary to substantiate any calculation of A and to satisfy an auditor or the tax authority applying the Payroll Tax Act.

8. Map services and wages to the correct financial year.

   • Ensure that the counts for B and C are performed within the "prescribed period" as defined in r 4(5) (financial year commencing 1 July 2024 or later) and that retrospective claims under regs 5 and 6 are mapped to the exact financial years enumerated in r 5(3) and r 6(3).

9. Seek administrative confirmation where uncertain.

   • For reg 5, where the practice’s amnesty status is a condition, seek confirmation or documentation from the Treasurer’s office or the relevant South Australian Treasury administrative process to confirm successful application and approval. Do not rely on informal or ambiguous statements of amnesty participation.

10. Follow the Act’s administrative procedures for claims or adjustments.

• The Regulations do not specify filing or amendment procedures. Any request to treat wages as exempt for payroll tax purposes will need to be processed under the Payroll Tax Act 2009 administrative framework (assessments, amendments, objections, refunds). Engage with the tax authority using the Act’s normal channels, providing the documentary evidence that supports the claim under the Regulations.

11. Reconcile internal billing with Commonwealth records.

• Because the formula in r 4 depends on classifications used in Commonwealth instruments, practices should reconcile their internal data with Commonwealth billing or Medicare records to ensure counts B and C align with the definitions used by the Commonwealth instrument.

12. Document the legal basis in returns and records.

• When lodging returns or making claims, document the statutory basis for the claim including the exact regulation reference (for example r 4(1) and r 4(2) for percentage exemptions, or r 5(2) and r 6(2) for retrospective declarations), and attach or maintain the supporting calculations and documentary evidence.

13. Monitor for changes in Commonwealth instruments.

• As the application of r 4 depends on Commonwealth regulatory definitions, monitor the Health Insurance Regulations 2021 and related Commonwealth law for amendments that might change the set of services excluded from B and C.

14. Engage professional advisers where necessary.

• Because the Regulations interact with the Act, with Commonwealth instruments, and with an administrative amnesty process, engage legal or tax advisers to ensure accurate mapping of facts to statutory conditions. Keep advisers’ advice on file to support the claim.

Following these steps, grounded in the Regulations’ text (rr 3-6 and relevant definitions), will assemble the factual, documentary and procedural elements necessary to assert the exemptions the Regulations declare. The Regulations do not themselves set out an administrative claim process; compliance therefore requires combining these document‑based preparations with the Act’s administrative mechanisms.