Interstate and overseas wages

You are liable for Queensland payroll tax if the wages are paid or payable:

• elsewhere for services performed entirely in Queensland
  
  or
  
  
• in Queensland and the employee performs services 
  • in Queensland for the entire return period
  • in Queensland for part of the return period, and interstate for the remainder of the period
    
    or
    
    
  • in more than one state or territory other than Queensland for the entire return period.

You are not liable for Queensland payroll tax if the wages are paid or payable:

• elsewhere for services performed only partly in Queensland
  
  or
  
  
• in Queensland for services entirely performed in one other state or territory.

See Public Ruling PTA001—Queensland payroll tax liability for wages paid by an employer and Checklist of taxable wages—Non-Queensland employment for more information.

Interstate returns

You must complete your Queensland payroll tax returns separately from the payroll tax returns you lodge in other states, even though your payroll tax liability and the amount of your deduction depends on your total Australian wages.

If you accidentally pay tax on Queensland wages to another state office, apply for a refund from that office and notify us of the:

• wage amounts
• periods they were required to be included.

We will reassess your payroll tax liability on this basis.

If an employee works overseas for a continuous period of longer than 6 months, their wages will not be taxable for the whole time they are overseas—even if those wages are paid in Queensland. The 6-month period starts from the date of the first payment you make to that employee while they are overseas.

However, if you exclude overseas wages and the employee works in another country for 6 months or less, notify us of the:

• excluded wages
• periods those amounts were paid.

We will reassess your liability. This may include unpaid tax interest and penalty tax.

An overseas parent company with employees working in Queensland will be liable for payroll tax if the wages they pay in Queensland exceed the threshold.

See Public Ruling PTA002—Expatriate employees for more information.