Mr WARREN - 2005-06-30
The government’s reforms of payroll tax will help facilitate more jobs for Territorians. Can you advise the House of tax changes that will occur on 1 July and the benefits for all Territorians?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Goyder for his first question in this Assembly. It is true that any move you make on payroll tax as a government has a potentially direct effect on employment. If you make the tax higher and harder for business to pay, you potentially drive down the ability of business to take on more employees. Alternatively, what we have been doing is trying to work payroll tax down as an impost on business to increase the ability of business to take on more employees.
1 July sees the roll out of the next range of the Labor government’s payroll tax changes. These are a series of reforms that began when we were first elected in 2001, where we made a reduction in the payroll tax rate from an existing 6.5% down to 6.2%. From 1 July last year, the government embarked on significant reform of the tax-free threshold that applied to this tax. Again, when we were elected in August 2001, the tax-free threshold was just $600 000 – from 1 July 2004, we raised it to $800 000, and as of 1 July 2005, we will raise that threshold to $1m.
Seventy-nine locally-based businesses no longer pay any payroll tax in the Northern Territory. That brings to a total of 162 the number of businesses not paying payroll tax since we began this reform program. The savings to those businesses which still pay payroll tax is around $20 500 - not insignificant. As from July next year, the threshold will rise again to $1.25m, equal to the best threshold in Australia. That is a great achievement for this Martin Labor government and one of which I am particularly proud, as Treasurer, to continue to monitor and carry through.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Goyder for his first question in this Assembly. It is true that any move you make on payroll tax as a government has a potentially direct effect on employment. If you make the tax higher and harder for business to pay, you potentially drive down the ability of business to take on more employees. Alternatively, what we have been doing is trying to work payroll tax down as an impost on business to increase the ability of business to take on more employees.
1 July sees the roll out of the next range of the Labor government’s payroll tax changes. These are a series of reforms that began when we were first elected in 2001, where we made a reduction in the payroll tax rate from an existing 6.5% down to 6.2%. From 1 July last year, the government embarked on significant reform of the tax-free threshold that applied to this tax. Again, when we were elected in August 2001, the tax-free threshold was just $600 000 – from 1 July 2004, we raised it to $800 000, and as of 1 July 2005, we will raise that threshold to $1m.
Seventy-nine locally-based businesses no longer pay any payroll tax in the Northern Territory. That brings to a total of 162 the number of businesses not paying payroll tax since we began this reform program. The savings to those businesses which still pay payroll tax is around $20 500 - not insignificant. As from July next year, the threshold will rise again to $1.25m, equal to the best threshold in Australia. That is a great achievement for this Martin Labor government and one of which I am particularly proud, as Treasurer, to continue to monitor and carry through.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016