| Revenue Ruling Public Ruling
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| Preamble Pay-roll tax is a tax which is payable in all States and Territories of Australia and is administered by each State or Territory under their own separate legislation. An employer is required to determine the State or Territory in which pay-roll tax is payable. Generally, pay-roll tax is payable to the State or Territory where the services in their entirity are performed. For example, a Tasmanian employer is obliged to pay pay-roll tax in Victoria in relation to the wages of an employee whose services in their entirety were performed within Victoria. Generally, this determination is straight forward where the services are land based in a particular State or Territory and payment is made in that State or Territory. However, where the services of the employee are performed in the seas adjacent to a State or Territory (For example, on an oil rig), and payment is made in another State, Territory or country, the position is more complex. This Ruling provides employers with information on the coastal limits of each State or Territory (with the exception of the Australian Capital Territory) as a guideline to assist in the determination of the State or Territory in which the pay-roll tax is payable. Ruling In general, a liability for pay-roll tax arises in a particular State or Territory where:-
or
Consequently, the liability of wages to pay-roll tax in some jurisdictions extends beyond payment for services performed on the land of a State or Territory, to include payment for services offshore but within the coastal limits of that State or Territory. The attached Schedule details the coastal limits of a particular State or Territory so that employers can determine which State or Territory they are operating in for the purposes of calculating pay-roll tax. Where a drilling rig, platform, etc is operating within the coastal limits of a particular State or Territory, wages paid or payable for services performed on that rig, platform, etc will be liable to pay-roll tax in that State or Territory, regardless of where the wages are paid or payable. For example:-
This ruling must be read subject to Revenue Ruling PUB-GEN-2001-1. Enquiries in relation to this Revenue Ruling should be directed to the Revenue Advice and Audit Section on telephone (03) 6233 5438 or email audithelp@treasury.tas.gov.au. Copies of this ruling may be obtained from our Web site at www.treasury.tas.gov.au/tax and follow the "Revenue Rulings" link. Peter Coe COMMISSIONER OF STATE REVENUE SCHEDULE COASTAL LIMITS OF EACH STATE AND TERRITORY Tasmania By virtue of Section 5 of the Coastal Waters (State Powers) Act 1980 (Commonwealth), Tasmania exercises jurisdiction over its coastal waters. As a result of the Act, Tasmania extends its legislation to the breadth of the territorial sea. That distance is currently 3 nautical miles. There are baselines from which that distance is measured so that large stretches of internal waters are not included in the measurement. The terms “adjacent area of Tasmania” and “coastal waters of the State” are defined in both the Coastal Waters (State Powers) Act 1979 and the Coastal and Other Waters (Application of State Laws) Act 1982 (Tas). For the purposes of the Pay-roll Tax Act 1971, any operations being conducted within the 3 mile limit would be liable for pay-roll tax in Tasmania. Victoria For the purposes of the Victorian Pay-roll Tax Act 1971, a reference to Victoria means Victoria’s land mass, inland waters and coastal waters down to the low water mark. New South Wales For the purposes of the Pay-roll Tax Act 1971 (NSW), the expression “in New South Wales” means within the territorial limits of New South Wales, together with coastal waters of the State including the 3 mile limit of the coastal sea of New South Wales. Queensland For the purposes of the Queensland Pay-roll Tax Act 1971, a reference to Queensland means the land territory of Queensland as delineated at the coast by the low water mark. Western Australia By virtue of Section 3(1)(b) of the Offshore (Application of Laws) Act 1982, any reference to “Western Australia” in a written law of the State is deemed to include a reference to the “coastal waters” of the State. Accordingly, for the purposes of the Pay-roll Tax Assessment Act in Western Australia, and in the context of offshore oil and gas rigs and platforms etc, the coastal limits of Western Australia means, in general terms, all seas adjacent to the State within 3 nautical miles of the seaward side of the territorial sea baseline. The territorial sea baseline follows the low water mark on the State’s mainland and islands and deviates offshore across river mouths and bays of less than 24 nautical miles in width. As a guide, a rig, platform, etc is considered to be operating within the coastal waters of Western Australia if conducting operations under a Drilling Reservation, Exploration Permit, Production Licence, Retention Lease, Special Prospecting Authority, Access Authority, Petroleum Lease or Pipeline Licence issued by the Western Australian Department of Minerals and Energy under the Petroleum Act 1967, Petroleum Pipelines Act 1969 or Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1982. South Australia For the purposes of the Pay-roll Tax Act 1971, South Australia’s coastal border is taken to be the ‘mean low watermark baseline”. In general terms the Territorial sea, “mean low watermark baseline” follows the low watermark on the State’s mainland and islands and deviates offshore across river mouths and bays if less than 24 nautical miles in width. Northern Territory By virtue of section 3(1)(b) of the Off-shore Waters (Application of Territory Laws) Act 1985, any reference in a written law of the Territory to “the Territory”, “the Northern Territory” or other similar reference is deemed to include a reference to the “coastal waters” of the Territory. For the purposes of the Pay-roll Tax Act in the Northern Territory, including off-shore oil and gas rigs and platforms etc, “coastal waters” means that part or parts of the territorial sea of Australia and is within the adjacent area in respect of the Territory, subject to the limitation that the area in question must not be further than 3 nautical miles from the Australian territorial sea base line as defined by proclamation in the Commonwealth Gazette number S29 dated 9 February 1983. |
