Practice owners rewrite GP contracts to avert payroll tax disaster
Changes have been 'problematic but possible', says Dr John Deery.
As the payroll tax threat enters the ACT, practice owner Dr John Deery has been rewriting contracts for GPs at his three practices as a form of protection.
The RACGP has warned that ACT practices are starting to receive audit notices, saying they may be liable for the 6.85% payroll tax rate.
It follows a string of legal judgements that have suggested GPs are employees rather than contractors for purposes of payroll tax.
In Queensland, GP practices have been offered an amnesty until 2025, but the ACT Government seems unlikely to follow suit after its Minister for Health, Rachel Stephen-Smith, said it would not consider “wearing the cost” of a tax exemption for GP practices.
