One of the lesser-known support measures put in place by the Victorian government during the COVID lockdown years of 2020 and 2021 (covering FY21 and FY22) was a credit (or partial refund) of payroll tax if you increased your payroll over either or both of those two years. The measure was called the New Jobs Payroll Tax Credit scheme.

If you are a Victorian business (i.e. you pay payroll tax in Victoria) with a turnover of less than $10 million, and your payroll increased in FY21 compared to FY20, and/or your payroll increased in FY22 compared to FY21, you are eligible for a payroll tax credit of 10 cents for every dollar of Victorian taxable wages paid in the relevant designated financial year that were above the previous financial year’s wages.

For most businesses the credit was applied by the State Revenue Office (SRO) against the employer’s payroll tax liabilities at the end of the relevant designated financial year. However, this has not occurred in every case, and therefore businesses should check their payroll tax account.

If your business qualifies and the credit was not applied, you can apply to have it applied now, and this will reduce this year’s payroll tax liability or may even result in a cash refund.

So if you are a Victorian business with a turnover of less than $10 million and you increased your payroll in FY21 compared to FY20 and/or increased your payroll in FY22 compared to FY21 you should log in and check your SRO payroll account to ensure you have secured any relevant credit.

Full details of the scheme are here Coronavirus relief - deferral and new jobs credit

Author: Phil Downing, Partner nem Australasia.
This article is based on research and opinion available in the public domain.