Payroll tax amnesty for contracted dentists

On 30 September 2024, the Queensland Government approved a payroll tax amnesty in relation to payments made to contracted dentists until 30 June 2025.

Eligible dental clinics:

• needed to register for payroll tax in Queensland and make a voluntary disclosure by 30 June 2025
• were not required to pay payroll tax on payments made to contracted dentists up to 30 June 2025 and for the previous 5 years (i.e. 2018–25).

Eligibility

The amnesty was limited to payments made to contracted dentists. For the purposes of the amnesty, a dentist is registered as a dentist with the Dental Board of Australia.

The amnesty was not available for payments to:

• contracted dentists where an exemption applied
• dentists who were common law employees.

To be eligible for the amnesty, a dental clinic had to:

• be a designated dental clinic
• make a voluntary disclosure and, if not already registered for payroll tax, register for payroll tax in Queensland by 30 June 2025
• comply with its ongoing payroll tax obligations after making the voluntary disclosure, this includes from 1 July 2025.

See the following documents:

• administrative arrangement that set out the terms of the amnesty
• Commissioner of State Revenue’s guidelines on how the amnesty would be administered.

Ongoing obligations

As a dental clinic, you must continue meeting all payroll tax obligations (e.g. lodging returns).

From 1 July 2025 (when the amnesty ended) all dental clinics must comply with their payroll tax obligations and start paying payroll tax on payments to contracted dentists (unless an exemption applies).

Also consider…

• Find out how to register for payroll tax.
• Learn about lodging payroll tax returns.
• Read about payroll tax exemptions for contractor payments.