e-Revenue Qld Issue 03 - April 2008

Grouping provisions

The following changes will be made to Queensland’s current grouping provisions:

• The test for determining controlling interest will be set at more than 50 per cent
• A new category of grouping will be adopted – ‘tracing of interests in corporations’
• Group members will be jointly and severally liable for any unpaid pay-roll tax, unpaid tax interest, penalty tax and other costs
  Grouping of head and branch businesses will be discontinued.

Exemption provisions

The following wages will be exempt from pay-roll tax liability in Queensland from 1 July:

• Wages paid to employees participating in voluntary work for bush fires, emergency relief and honorary ambulance officers
• Wages paid to employees for parental and adoption leave
  Wages paid under the Community Development Employment
• Projects program
• Increases to the exemption rates for motor vehicle and accommodation allowances, based on specific prescribed Australian Taxation Office rates.

Further information 

• Visit the pay-roll tax harmonisation section of the OSR website
• Visit the Parliamentary Counsel website to view the amended legislation
• Subscribe to pay-roll tax email alerts
• Email PayrollTax@osr.treasury.qld.gov.au 
• Contact our Client Contact Centre on 1300 300 734.

To help taxpayers prepare for the changes, public seminars will soon be available. Details of these seminars, including dates, will be announced in an upcoming issue of e-RQ.

Please remember the frequency of mortgage and insurance duty returns have changed - they are now required to be lodged monthly, including those months where there were no dutiable transactions (nil returns). 

Ongoing training and support for new users of Duties Online will be a permanent client support strategy for OSR. We realise that businesses need ongoing support in this area to help with staff changes, including the need to train new people.

To help users, new and old, we are continuing our online demonstrations via the OSR website. New users can get up-to-speed on the new process via short but descriptive walk-throughs for e-lodging mortgage, insurance and transfer duty returns.

New forms

Users should note there are new electronic forms such as:

• D12.3 Return for transfer self assessors which replaces the existing schedule. You do not need to complete this form if you choose to lodge your returns using Duties Online
• New versions of form D2.1 Home / first home transfer concession
  Existing forms such as D2.7 Claim for transfer duty concessions first home vacant land are also now available online.

Remember there are helpful information sheets describing the processing of duties returns in SA1 Information sheet for transfer duty and SA2 Information sheet for mortgage duty.

For more information

• Visit the new Duties Online section of the OSR website
• Subscribe to Duties Online email alerts
• Email client.support@osr.treasury.qld.gov.au 
• Contact our Client Contact Centre on 1300 300 734.