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Australian Revenue Offices
A B C D E F G I L M N O P Q R S T U V W
Term/Acronym Definition
relevant contract

A relevant contract is one where a person in the course of their business:

  • Supplies services to another person for or in relation to the performance of work; or
  • Receives services from another person for or in relation to the performance of work; or
  • Gives out goods to natural persons for work to be performed by those persons in respect of those goods and for re-supply of the goods to the first mentioned person, or where that person is a member of a group, to another member of that group.

(Note: relevant contract provisions do not apply in WA.)

remuneration

Any payment that is in return for services.

re-supply

... of goods acquired from a person includes – 

(a) a supply to the person of goods in an altered form or condition; and

(b) a supply to the person of goods in which the first-mentioned goods have been incorporated

return period

... in relation to an employer, means a period relating to which that employer is required to lodge a return under Payroll Tax legislation. 

services rendered

Work that a person performs for their employer, for which they have been (or will be paid) a wage for services rendered.

significant wage change

A significant wage change happens during a periodic return period when the amount of annual wages that an employer can estimate at the end of the periodic return period differs by more than 30% from the annual wage figure used to calculate the fixed periodic deduction.

If the employer is a designated group employer, the estimated annual wages should include all group members' wages.

share

A share in a company and includes a stapled security.

superannuation contribution

A contribution paid or payable by an employer in respect of an employee or director– 

(a) to or as a superannuation fund within the meaning of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 of the Commonwealth; or

(b) as a superannuation guarantee charge within the meaning of the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 of the Commonwealth; or

(c) to or as any other form of superannuation, provident or retirement fund or scheme including – 

       (i) the Superannuation Holding Accounts Special Account within the meaning of the Small Superannuation Accounts Act 1995 of the Commonwealth; and

       (ii) a retirement savings account within the meaning of the Retirement Savings Accounts Act 1997 of the Commonwealth; and

       (iii) a wholly or partly unfunded fund or scheme.

tax default

A payroll tax default occurs when a taxpayer fails to pay tax in accordance with the Payroll Tax Act (Pay-roll Tax Assessment Act in WA). Two types of tax default can occur:

Late Payment Tax Default – occurs when the correct amount of payroll tax is paid in full after the due date but before any action has been taken by the Commissioner.

Tax Shortfall Tax Default – any tax default, other than late payment.

taxable wages

Means wages that are taxable in the respective state or territory. It does not include exempt wages. 

termination payment

A payment made in consequence of the retirement from, or termination of, any office or employment of an employee. This includes:

  • unused annual leave and long service leave payments; 

  • employment termination payments, within the meaning of section 82-130 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (‘ITAA’), that would be included in the assessable income of an employee under Part 2-40 of the ITAA; 

  • transitional termination payments, within the meaning of section 82-10 of the Income Tax (Transitional Provisions) Act 1997 and any payment that would be an employment termination payment but for the fact that it was received more than 12 months after the termination; 

  • amounts paid or payable by a company as a consequence of terminating the services or office of a director; 

  • amounts paid or payable by a person taken to be an employer under the contractor provisions as a consequence of termination of the supply of services by a person taken to be an employee under those provisions. 

Territories

Means the Australian Capital Territory (including the Jervis Bay Territory) and the Northern Territory.

threshold

See Exemption threshold.

 

unused annual leave payments

Has the same meaning as in section 83–10 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.

unused long service leave payments

Has the same meaning as in section 83-75 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.