New guidelines in NSW and Victoria have put GPs in the crosshairs over payroll tax — without protection from retrospective audits or amnesty offers from either state government. 

The tax rulings, published in both states on Friday, are near-identical to each other and to those in Queensland and SA, says Belinda Hudson, director of accounting firm William Buck. 

They lay out factors that may determine whether GPs are treated as employees rather than contractors for tax purposes, including leave entitlements, rostering and whether the GP is able to work with other practices. 

“It depends on what control practices have over the doctors, and that will be determined in their contracts, what they have in their service agreements and how practices interact with doctors,” Ms Hudson said.