- Guide 5 of 5
- Seven state and territory payroll tax laws
- Checked 10 October 2026
Payroll tax outside NSW: each state’s threshold and rate, from its own law
Each state and territory sets its own payroll tax threshold and rate in its own law, so the line a growing business crosses depends on where it pays wages. Among them, the Northern Territory’s Act sets a threshold amount of $2,500,000 and a rate of 5.5%, and Western Australia’s sets an annual threshold of $1,000,000 and a rate of 5.5%; the table below gives all seven outside New South Wales, each dated by the version read on 10 October 2026.
General information only, not tax advice. The official places to check are each state and territory’s revenue office; the laws behind every figure are listed at the foot of this page.
Seven laws, seven sets of numbers
Read each row as its own law. The words differ as well as the figures: some Acts name a threshold amount, Western Australia names three thresholds, Queensland works through an annual deduction and a higher rate above a set amount, and Victoria’s revenue office speaks of a maximum deduction.
| Where | Law and version read | Threshold | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Queensland | Payroll Tax Act 1971, current as at 1 July 2026 | An annual deduction worked out by the formula in section 29 (not reproduced here); the higher rate applies above a threshold amount of $6,500,000 for an annual return period, or $541,666 for a monthly one, or an amount worked out by the Act’s formula for any other period | 4.75% of taxable wages; 4.95% for each return period in which taxable and interstate wages are more than the threshold amount (s 10) |
| South Australia | Payroll Tax Act 2009, version of 31 March 2026 | Threshold amount (TA) of $1,500,000 (Schedule 1) | 4.95% where total annualised relevant wages are more than $1,700,000; between $1,500,000 and $1,700,000 a formula sets the rate (Sch 1 cl 5(2) and cl 9(4)) |
| Western Australia | Pay-roll Tax Assessment Act 2002 (version 04-d0-03, headed “As at 01 Jul 2019”; its section 8 sets the thresholds for financial years beginning on or after 1 July 2020) and Pay-roll Tax Act 2002 (version 00-d0-02, headed “As at 14 Dec 2017”) | For financial years beginning on or after 1 July 2020: annual threshold $1,000,000; monthly threshold $83,333; upper threshold $7,500,000 (s 8) | 5.5% on wages paid or payable on or after 1 July 2023 (s 5(4)) |
| Tasmania | Payroll Tax Act 2008, the version on the Tasmanian Legislation website as read on 10 October 2026 | Threshold amount $1,250,000 and top tax bracket threshold $2,000,000, each for financial years commencing on or after 1 July 2018 (Sch 1 cl 1) | Schedule 1 sets two rates, R1 at 4% and R2 at 6.1%, applied through its formulas |
| Australian Capital Territory | Payroll Tax Act 2011 (republication 20) and Determination DI2026-151, in force from 1 July 2026 | Annual threshold amount $1,750,000; monthly $145,833.33 | A yearly rate set by total wages: 6.75% from over $1.75 million up to $20 million; 6.85% over $20 million up to $50 million; 7.35% over $50 million up to $100 million; 7.85% over $100 million up to $150 million; 8.75% over $150 million. Five named universities pay no more than 6.85% |
| Northern Territory | Payroll Tax Act 2009, as in force at 1 July 2026 | Threshold amount $2,500,000 (Sch 1) | 5.5%; 6.5% where the year’s or period’s taxable and interstate wages are equal to or greater than $100,000,000 (s 7A) |
| Victoria | State Revenue Office Victoria’s current rates page, updated 29 September 2026 | Maximum deduction $1,000,000 a year ($83,333 a month) from 1 July 2025 onward, phased out between $3,000,000 and $5,000,000 of total Australian taxable wages | 4.85%; 1.2125% for regional Victorian employers |
The formulas behind Queensland’s deduction, South Australia’s phase-in and Tasmania’s two rates are not reproduced here; each state’s revenue office explains how its own applies.
Queensland’s Act also imposes a separate levy: “A mental health levy is imposed under this part on particular taxable wages paid or payable in a financial year” (s 12A(1)). Its rates and thresholds are not set out here.
Figures that changed on a date
The ACT, 1 July 2026. The ACT’s Act does not hold its own figures: Schedule 1 says the threshold amount is “the amount determined under the Taxation Administration Act 1999, section 139”. The determination in force, DI2026-151, began on 1 July 2026 and revoked the 2025 determination, DI2025-161, so a figure read before that date may be out of date.
Victoria, 1 July 2025. The phase-out rate was 45% for the year that began on 1 July 2024, and is 50% from 1 July 2025 and each later year. “Employers and groups with total annual taxable Australian wages above $5,000,000 are not eligible for any deduction.” Two surcharges also apply once Australian wages pass $10 million, on the Victorian share of wages above the thresholds: the mental health and wellbeing surcharge, which commenced from 1 January 2022, and the COVID-19 debt temporary payroll tax surcharge, which commenced from 1 July 2023 and applies until 30 June 2033.
Western Australia, 1 July 2023. The rate Act lists the earlier periods too: 6% before 1 January 2005, 5.5% from 1 January 2005 to 30 June 2018, rates set under its Part 3 for the sliding scale period from 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2023, and 5.5% again from 1 July 2023.
Wages from other states count, and groups share
The tests quoted here look past the state line. In Tasmania an employer outside a group is not liable for a year if its total taxable wages and interstate wages are not more than its initial threshold for that year. Queensland’s higher rate and the Territory’s 6.5% are both tested on taxable and interstate wages together.
The same Acts test a group of employers on its combined wages. In Tasmania, none of a group’s members is liable for the year if the group’s total taxable and interstate wages are not more than the group’s initial threshold; Queensland and the Northern Territory test their higher rates on the group’s combined wages.
Queensland’s weekly test and regional discount
Queensland asks an employer to register in a month in which it pays, or is liable to pay, taxable wages and either pays wages anywhere “of more than $25,000 a week” or is a group member. The application is due within 7 days after the end of that month, with a maximum penalty of 100 penalty units (Queensland’s own unit).
Section 10A gives a regional employer a discount of 1% on the rate for return periods in the financial years ending 30 June 2020 to 30 June 2030. A regional employer has its principal place of employment in regional Queensland and pays at least 85% of taxable wages to regional employees. For return periods ending after 30 June 2024, the discount is lost if taxable wages for the period exceed the wage threshold, which is $350,000,000 for an annual return period.
New South Wales
New South Wales sets its own threshold and rate in the Payroll Tax Act 2007 (NSW), explained on Revenue NSW’s payroll tax pages. This guide leaves its figures to that page.