Payments made by a union to its elected representatives and executive board members

Payments made to a person by a union (both an employee and employer union or association) are wages for payroll tax if:

• an employer-employee relationship exists between the parties

or

• the payments are remuneration to a director or member of the governing body of the union.

Employer-employee relationship

An elected representative or executive board member is an employee of a union, if the union controls them in such a way that an employer-employee relationship exists (e.g. if they spend a large amount of time working on union matters, either in daily operations or making executive decisions).

If the elected representative or executive board member of a union only attends infrequent meetings (e.g. monthly, quarterly or half yearly) to vote on various union issues, they will generally not be in an employer-employee relationship.

If an employer-employee relationship exists, the amounts paid or payable in relation to that employment are taxable wages for payroll tax purposes.

Members of the governing body of the union

Amounts paid or payable by way of remuneration to an executive board member of a union will usually be taxable wages for payroll tax, whether or not the executive board member is an employee of that union.