The Federal Government’s voluntary patient enrolment scheme will “muddy the waters” on payroll tax for GP practices, an accountant says.

From October, practices can enrol patients under the MyMedicare scheme to regain rebates for longer telephone consultations and eventually opt into new incentive payments for aged care and reducing hospital readmissions.

But practices are simultaneously grappling with new payroll tax rulings in NSW and Victoria, which have laid out factors that may determine whether GPs are treated as employees rather than contractors for tax purposes.

These include rostering, whether the GP is able to work at different practices and other elements related to practices’ level of control over GPs.