Payroll Tax Calculator by State

What payroll tax is (and who it catches)

Payroll tax is a state and territory tax on the wages a business pays once its total Australian wages pass a threshold. It is separate from PAYG withholding and from superannuation — it's a tax on the employer, not the employee. Because it's state-based, every jurisdiction (NSW, VIC, QLD, WA, SA, TAS, ACT and NT) sets its own rate and its own tax-free threshold, and those figures change. Always take the current rate and threshold from your state or territory revenue office rather than a cached number on a website — including this one.

The trap for growing SMEs is that you often cross the threshold quietly. Nobody sends you a letter the month it happens; you're expected to register yourself.

The inputs you need

• Total taxable wages — not just salaries. Most states count superannuation contributions, bonuses, commissions, allowances, directors' fees, fringe benefits and many contractor payments as taxable wages. This is the number owners most often understate.
• The states you pay wages in — if you employ across borders, thresholds are apportioned between jurisdictions rather than applied in full in each one.
• Grouped entities — related businesses (common ownership, shared employees) are usually grouped, and the group shares one threshold. Two companies under the same owner can't each claim a full threshold.
• Your state's current threshold and rate — from the relevant revenue office (Revenue NSW, SRO Victoria, QRO, and so on).

The method, step by step

1. Build your taxable wages total

Start with gross wages from payroll, then add super, allowances, fringe benefits and any contractor payments your state deems wages. This gives annual Australian taxable wages for the entity (or the group, if grouped).

2. Compare against the threshold

If your total sits below your jurisdiction's current threshold, there is generally no liability — but keep watching it as headcount grows.

3. Apply the rate to the excess

The basic structure in most jurisdictions is: (taxable wages − available threshold) × current rate = payroll tax payable. Some states use a deduction that tapers away as wages rise, so large payers get little or no threshold benefit. Multi-state employers apportion the threshold by the share of wages paid in each state.

4. Sanity-check the edge cases

Contractor provisions, grouping and fringe benefits are where most errors (and most audits) live. If any of those apply, get advice before relying on your own figure.

What the result tells you

The output is a monthly or annual liability, because most states require monthly returns once you're registered, with an annual reconciliation. Treat the figure as a cash-flow line: it should sit in your forecast alongside BAS and super so a growing wages bill never produces a surprise. If you're within striking distance of the threshold, model next year's headcount now — payroll tax changes the true cost of each new hire.

Keeping it under control

Payroll tax is one of those obligations that spans your bookkeeper, your payroll person and your accountant — and problems appear in the gaps between them. A single monthly rhythm where wages data, registrations and returns are reviewed together stops it slipping. That's the kind of coordination work we cover in our guide to the connected back office, and it's a classic example of coordination tax quietly costing owners money.

This page is general information about how the calculation works, not advice on your liability — confirm your position with your accountant or your state revenue office.