Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas today announced a further $491 million in economic relief measures to help Victorians hit hardest by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Victorian businesses who have signed up for the Federal Government’s JobKeeper scheme will be exempt from payroll tax and the WorkCover levy for employees on the scheme as follows:
- For employees who have come to an agreement with their employer to be stood down and not perform any work, the full $1500 paid to them is exempt from payroll tax.
- For employees paid less than $1500 per fortnight, the payroll tax exemption applies to the difference between their wage and the $1500. For example, to qualify for a JobKeeper payment, an employer must pay an additional $500 to an employee who earns $1000 a fortnight. This additional payment of $500 is exempt from payroll tax.
You don’t need to apply for this emergency relief measure and businesses that have already lodged their monthly returns for April 2020 and included additional payments in their estimated taxable wages can make adjustments as part of their payroll tax annual reconciliation in July 2020.
More information can be found here.
In terms of WorkCover, the additional payments are not included in rateable remuneration for the purposes of calculating WorkCover Premiums. For more information, visit WorkSafe.
On the day when he was supposed to be handing down the state budget, which has been postponed until at least late October, Mr Pallas also announced some relief for households, easing cost pressures for businesses and households by freezing a range of fee and fine increases due to come into force on July 1, such as drivers licence fees, vehicle registration fees and the fire service property levy at their current levels.
Should you have any questions or need any help ensuring you receive all available assistance, please reach out to our team and we will endeavour to do our best to assist.
Stay Safe.
The Team at Rose Partners
