eRevenue Queensland issue 13 March 2009

• Previously, certain transactions were optional. These transactions must now be self assessed. 
• All transfers of land in Queensland are to be self assessed irrespective of their value or consideration. 
• All transfers of Queensland business assets are to be self assessed irrespective of their value or consideration.  
• Certain matrimonial matters that are exempt under sections 90 and 90L of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cwlth) are to be self assessed. 
• All recognised de facto relationship agreements made under section 266 of the Property Law Act 1974 and transactions made in accordance with the recognised agreement which are exempt under section 424 of the Duties Act 2001 are to be self assessed.

These changes are detailed in Self assessment of transfer duty: Instructions for registered self assessors (SA1), which is available on our website at www.osr.qld.gov.au.

Over the next 12 months, OSR will explore opportunities to further expand the range of transactions capable of self assessment. Your feedback on what additional transactions could be included can be sent to client.support@osr.treasury.qld.gov.au.

 

On 12 February 2009, following submissions, the Commissioner approved amendments to the amnesty which provide the following additional benefits to employers:

• extend the amnesty period by one month to 30 April 2009
• reduce the number of previous financial years to be reviewed by the Office of State Revenue (OSR) from three years to one year (1 July 2007 to 30 June 2008).  This means that employers who make full disclosures under the amnesty will only be audited for that one financial year (normal assessing and audit practices will apply after the amnesty for audits of employers who have not taken advantage of the amnesty, including auditing five previous financial years)

 and

• allow employers the option to repay their payroll tax liabilities assessed under the amnesty over a period of up to 12 months.  Under this option, equal monthly instalments must be made by direct debit authority provided by the employer to the OSR.  Unpaid tax interest (UTI) at the normal rate will apply to the outstanding payroll tax liability during the repayment period.

The other terms and benefits of making a voluntary disclosure under the amnesty remain the same, namely:

• no penalty tax will be imposed in relation to contractor payments

 and

• the rate of UTI will be halved in relation to contractor payments to the date of assessment.

The amended terms will apply to all voluntary disclosures made during the amnesty from 12 October 2008 to 30 April 2009.

Employers who have incorrectly excluded certain payments to contractors from their taxable wages before 1 July 2008 must complete and lodge an ‘Amnesty Declaration Form’ with the OSR.  Employers who do not complete and lodge the form by 30 April 2009 will not be entitled to the benefits of the amnesty. 

The form and more information about the amnesty is available through the:

• OSR website: www.osr.qld.gov.au
• OSR Client Contact Centre: 1300 300 734
• Email: clientcontactcentre@osr.treasury.qld.gov.au
   

For example, the 'shares and options' module helps to explain when, how and what amount to include for payroll tax if you have an employee share scheme operating in your business.

Other topics include 'grouping' and 'fringe benefits', just to name a few.

To start learning about payroll tax through interactive modules, visit OSR's new eLearning tool available on our website.

1. Salary sacrificing and payroll tax 

Some employees take advantage of salary sacrificing. For payroll tax, the full amount of wages prior to sacrificed amounts or taxes is treated as taxable wages.

For example:

John’s salary is $1200 per fortnight plus a compulsory superannuation guarantee of $108 per fortnight paid by his employer. He salary sacrifices a pre-taxed amount of $300 in extra superannuation. His employer withholds an amount for PAYG. The full $1200 plus the compulsory superannuation guarantee of $108 paid by his employer (i.e. $1308) must be declared as taxable wages.

2. Unpaid tax interest (UTI)—it pays to pay on time

UTI accrues on a daily basis on any unpaid payroll tax, from and including the day after the payment was due until payment is received in full. If you have a monthly return period, your periodic returns are due within seven days after the end of each month.

If you are late paying your payroll tax, then UTI will be applicable. Any payment that you make will be assigned to outstanding UTI first. The unpaid tax amount will continue to accrue UTI until the full amount is paid.

If you pay your tax on time, no UTI will be applicable. The UTI rate for the 2008–09 financial year is set at 15.76%.

3. Paying by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)  

OSR has electronic payment facilities for payroll tax. This means you can now pay your periodic, annual or final return liability by an electronic payment through your financial institution using EFT (or Direct Credit) or BPay. 

Take advantage of this no cost feature today. For more information on how to pay electronically, see the payroll tax online lodgement guide on our website.

4. Lodge online today

OSR has online lodgement forms and tax calculators to help speed up the process of completing returns. You can lodge your annual return, final return, nil periodic return or a notification of fixed periodic deduction online.

While using the eForm, if your keyboard is inactive for 30 minutes, the system will log you out and you will lose all your work.

To access the eForm, you will need your unique client number (also called user name) and password. Please take care when entering your password. Three incorrect attempts will lock you out.  If you have lost or forgotten your password, or been locked out, contact the Client Contact Centre on 1300 300 734.

You can not save your eForm so we recommend you print a copy of the 'summary page' and 'confirmation page' for your records.

5. It’s all about the ‘payment reference number’

When submitting your electronic payment of payroll tax please take care to use the correct payment reference number.  If you do not use the correct number, your payment may not be applied as intended and penalties may result.

When you enter the assessment information screen, you are provided with a list of your 12 (or agreed number of periods) different payment reference numbers for the financial year.

To make sure you've got the right payment reference number, OSR recommends you use the following procedure:

Step 1—Highlight the appropriate payment reference number and copy it (right click on your mouse then select copy).

Step 2—Place your curser in the 'reference/description' field in your online banking facility and then paste (right click on your mouse and select paste).

Three days after submitting your payment you can log on again and check your liability payment has been recorded.

Using the right payment reference number is vital to ensure your payment is recorded.

1. OSR is changing the way we communicate with you

In early to mid-2009 OSR will make several self assessment changes of which you need to be aware.  

Having reviewed our communication channels, OSR soon intends to communicate all changes to you electronically.

This effective mode of communication will mean that you receive information and regular updates as soon as they become available. 

To stay informed, please email us and advise of your email address and your Office of State Revenue Client Number (i.e. your unique 7 digit client reference number).

2. Lodge returns by the due date and do not use personal cheques

Your weekly transfer duty return plus all transfer duty payable, including any unpaid tax interest (UTI) for the week’s transactions, must be lodged by the due date which is Thursday of the following week. Failure to lodge both your return and payment by the due date will result in the application of UTI and/or penalties.

You can lodge your transfer duty return for the week once all transactions have been accounted for i.e. if you know you only have 1 transfer duty transaction for the week, you can submit the return any time before the due date on Thursday the following week. 

If payment for a transaction is received by OSR later than the due date, you will need to include the additional days of UTI in your payment.  UTI accrues at a daily rate and the liability can be calculated via the inbuilt calculators within Duties Online or the newly updated calculators available on our website. To ensure accuracy of the calculated UTI, the correct dates must be entered in the spaces provided in the calculator.

UTI example

Weekly return week ending:  16/01/2009

Return due date:  22/01/2009

UTI start date:  23/01/2009

OSR receives return & payment:  26/01/2009

In this example, OSR received the return lodgement and payment on 26/01/2009 and therefore it must include any UTI to the 26/01/2009 or an underpayment will result.

To avoid underpayment, please ensure that you allow adequate time for postage.

Personal cheques over $100 or unsigned cheques will not be accepted. In either case the cheque will be returned to the self assessor and UTI will continue to accrue until full payment has been received.

 Duties Online can help self assessors calculate the correct duty and UTI.

3. Check your period end date is correct before submitting your return

Selecting the correct period end date is essential to ensuring returns are allocated to the correct return period. Submitting a return under the incorrect period end date can cause problems with weekly returns and could possibly result in UTI being applied.

While Duties Online automatically generates a period end date, the system does not necessarily default to the current week ending. Therefore, when submitting your return, you need to ensure the correct period end date is selected. 

For more information on how to lodge your return using Duties Online, please refer to the eLearning section of the OSR website and view the available demonstrations.

4. Commercial transactions subject to GST

When assessing commercial/industrial dutiable transactions subject to GST, self assessors need to consider the following:

1. If an agreement (i.e. contract) or a transfer contains a condition or states that the value (consideration) is plus GST.

Transfer duty must be calculated on the consideration plus the GST component.

2. If any of these documents contain a condition that states, the transferee will pay the stated consideration plus an amount for GST payable by the transferor in respect of the transfer.

Transfer duty must be calculated on the consideration plus the GST component.

3. If an agreement or a transfer states that the purchaser will pay any GST liability but no GST liability is actually incurred.

Duty is calculated on the consideration only.

Evidence must be produced prior to the assessment of transfer duty verifying that no GST is payable. 

5. Trusts and companies not eligible for transfer duty home concessions

Homebuyers may be entitled to a first home/home concession for transfer duty which could result in reduced costs when acquiring a home.

In general, if a person buys a residence and lives in it as their ‘principal place of residence’, they may be entitled to a home concession. If they have never owned a home, they may also be entitled to an additional first home concession. You can view the transfer duty information page on concessions for homes for information regarding conditions and eligibility.

However, a trustee who occupies the home as their principal place of residence is not eligible for the concession unless the transferees are trustees of a trust (other than a discretionary or unit trust), the beneficiaries are individuals, all of whom are under a legal disability, and the residence would be the home of all the beneficiaries if they were the transferees of the land (section 91 of the Duties Act 2001).

Companies are not entitled to claim home concessions.

For further information view the home concession amounts available on our website.