Western Australian Consolidated Acts Western Australian Consolidated Acts (1) A non-group
employer may, or a DGE on behalf of all the members of a group may, apply to
the Commissioner for exemption from the requirement to lodge monthly returns
for an assessment year.
(1a) Except as stated
in subsection (1c) or (1d), the Commissioner has to give an exemption on
receiving an application from an employer having, or the DGE of a group
having, an expected pay-roll tax liability for the assessment year that is
less than —
(a)
$20 000; or
(b) a
greater amount prescribed for the purpose of this subsection by the
regulations.
(1aa) Except as stated
in subsection (1c) or (1d), the Commissioner has to give an exemption on
receiving an application from an employer having, or the DGE of a group
having, an expected pay-roll tax liability for the assessment year that is not
less than the amount applying under subsection (1a)(a) or (b) but is less
than —
(a)
$100 000; or
(b) a
greater amount prescribed for the purpose of this subsection by the
regulations.
(1b) In
subsections (1a) and (1aa) —
expected pay-roll tax liability means the amount
of pay-roll tax for which the employer or group would be liable in the
assessment year if, during that year, the employer, or the employers of the
group between them, paid or were liable to pay WA taxable wages and interstate
taxable wages —
(a)
equal to those that the employer paid or was liable to pay, or the employers
of the group between them paid or were liable to pay, during the immediately
preceding assessment year; or
(b) if
the Commissioner is satisfied that applying paragraph (a) would not
result in a reasonable approximation of the wages to be paid in the assessment
year, as reasonably assessed by the employer or, in the case of a group, the
DGE.
(1c) The Commissioner
may decline to give an exemption until the applicant provides to the
Commissioner sufficient information to justify any assessment under
paragraph (b) of the definition of expected pay-roll tax liability in
subsection (1b).
(1d) The Commissioner
may decline to give an exemption if the Commissioner considers that the effect
of the exemption would create an unacceptable risk of a person failing to
satisfy a liability in accordance with this Act.
(2) The Commissioner
may, in any other circumstances, exempt an employer from the requirement to
lodge monthly returns.
(3) The Commissioner
may give an exemption on receiving an application or on his or her initiative.
(4) An exemption is
subject to the conditions (if any) prescribed in the regulations and to the
conditions specified in the notice (if any).
(4a) An exemption for
the members of a group has to apply to every member of the group, and has to
result in each member of the group lodging returns at the same frequency.
(4b) An exemption
under subsection (1a) cannot exclude the operation of
subsection (8)(a).
(4c) Without limiting
any other conditions that can be prescribed or specified, an exemption under
subsection (1aa) is on the conditions that —
(a) a
return is lodged for each quarter, and the lodging of the return, the form of
it, and the information specified in it, are as section 26 would describe
if a reference in that section to a month referred to a quarter; and
(b) the
return is lodged in accordance with section 28A; and
(c) any
return under section 27 is also lodged in accordance with
section 28A.
(4d) In
subsection (4c) —
quarter means a period of 3 months commencing
on 1 July, 1 October, 1 January or 1 April.
(5) An exemption
continues in force until it is revoked.
(6) The Commissioner
may revoke an exemption at any time by giving the employer notice of the
revocation except that the Commissioner cannot revoke an exemption that
subsection (1a) or (1aa) would oblige the Commissioner to give if an
application were made for the exemption unless —
(a) the
person having the benefit of the exemption consents; or
(b) the
Commissioner considers that the effect of the exemption would create an
unacceptable risk of a person failing to satisfy a liability in accordance
with this Act.
(7) Granting an
exemption does not exempt the employer from any liability to pay-roll tax,
even if it has the effect of postponing the time for payment of the pay-roll
tax.
(8) A person who is
exempted from lodging monthly returns for an assessment year must —
(a)
lodge an annual return within 21 days after the end of the assessment
year, unless a condition of the exemption otherwise provides; or
(b) if a
condition of the exemption requires returns to be lodged more frequently than
annually, lodge returns as the condition requires.
Penalty: a fine of $5 000.
(9) An annual return
must —
(a) be
in the approved form; and
(b)
specify the WA taxable wages and the interstate taxable wages that the
employer paid or became liable to pay during the assessment year.
Penalty: a fine of $5 000.
[Section 29 amended by No. 40 of 2003
s. 25; No. 82 of 2004 s. 5 and 15(1)-(6); No. 15 of 2010
s. 19.]