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payroll_tax_analysis skill

/.agent/skills/payroll_tax_analysis

This skill analyzes payroll tax across Australian jurisdictions, calculating thresholds, rates, exemptions, and contractor deeming to ensure multi-state

npx playbooks add skill cleanexpo/ato --skill payroll_tax_analysis

Review the files below or copy the command above to add this skill to your agents.

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SKILL.md
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---
name: payroll-tax-analysis
description: Multi-state payroll tax compliance analysis across all 8 Australian jurisdictions
---

# Payroll Tax Analysis Skill

Analyses payroll tax obligations across all 8 Australian states and territories. Handles multi-state wage allocation, contractor deeming provisions, grouping assessment, exemption identification, and mental health levy calculations.

## When to Use

- Determining payroll tax obligations across multiple states
- Assessing contractor deeming provisions (are contractors deemed employees?)
- Evaluating grouping provisions for related entities
- Calculating state-specific thresholds, rates, and mental health levies
- Identifying payroll tax exemptions (apprentices, trainees, regional)
- Annual payroll tax reconciliation

## Jurisdictions

| State | Threshold | Rate | Mental Health Levy | Legislation |
|-------|-----------|------|-------------------|-------------|
| NSW | $1,200,000 | 5.45% | No | Payroll Tax Act 2007 (NSW) |
| VIC | $900,000 | 4.85% | Yes (additional surcharge) | Payroll Tax Act 2007 (Vic) |
| QLD | $1,300,000 | 4.75% | Yes (0.25% above $10M) | Payroll Tax Act 1971 (Qld) |
| WA | $1,000,000 | 5.50% | No | Pay-roll Tax Assessment Act 2002 (WA) |
| SA | $1,500,000 | Variable (0-4.95%) | No | Payroll Tax Act 2009 (SA) |
| TAS | $1,250,000 | 4.00-6.10% | No | Payroll Tax Act 2008 (Tas) |
| ACT | $2,000,000 | 6.85% | No | Payroll Tax Act 2011 (ACT) |
| NT | $1,500,000 | 5.50% | No | Payroll Tax Act 2009 (NT) |

## Key Analysis Areas

### Wage Allocation
- Allocate wages to state where work is performed
- If worker performs work in multiple states, use principal place of employment
- For remote workers, use employer's state if no clear work state

### Contractor Deeming
- Relevant contract provisions (labour-only, equipment provision)
- Per-state deeming rules differ — analyse per jurisdiction
- ABN verification via `abn_entity_lookup` skill

### Grouping Provisions
- Related bodies corporate automatically grouped
- Common control or common interests test
- Shared threshold across group (de-grouping applications possible)

## Engine Reference

- **Engine**: `lib/analysis/payroll-tax-engine.ts`
- **Function**: `analyzePayrollTax(tenantId, financialYear, options)`
- **Output**: Per-state breakdown with thresholds, rates, liabilities, exemptions

Overview

This skill performs multi-state payroll tax compliance analysis for all eight Australian jurisdictions. It produces a per-state breakdown of thresholds, rates, mental health levies, and estimated liabilities. The skill identifies exemptions, assesses contractor deeming, and evaluates grouping impacts across related entities.

How this skill works

The engine allocates wages to the state where work is performed, applies principal place of employment rules for multi-state workers, and defaults remote worker allocation to the employer's state when needed. It checks contractor arrangements against labour-only and equipment provisions and flags likely deemed employees. The analysis engine returns per-state liabilities, applicable exemptions, grouping adjustments, and notes on relevant legislation for the selected financial year.

When to use it

  • Determining payroll tax exposure for entities operating across multiple Australian states and territories
  • Assessing whether contractors may be treated as employees for payroll tax in specific jurisdictions
  • Calculating the impact of grouping or common-control rules on shared payroll tax thresholds
  • Identifying state-specific exemptions like apprentices, trainees, or regional relief
  • Preparing annual payroll tax reconciliation and lodgement figures

Best practices

  • Provide detailed payroll by worker, including work location and hours, to improve allocation accuracy
  • Supply contractor contracts and ABN checks to validate deeming assessments
  • Group related entity structures and common-control documentation to correctly model shared thresholds
  • Run analyses for the relevant financial year and review state legislation notes for recent changes
  • Validate outputs with local state revenue rulings when an edge case or significant liability is identified

Example use cases

  • A national employer reallocates remote staff wages to determine payroll tax liabilities by state
  • A payroll team verifies whether a cohort of contractors should be deemed employees for NSW and VIC
  • An accountant models the effect of combining newly acquired subsidiaries under grouping rules
  • An advisory firm calculates mental health levies and surcharges for high-payroll jurisdictions
  • Finance prepares year-end reconciliation showing exemptions and per-state reconciled liabilities

FAQ

Does the analysis include mental health levies and surcharges?

Yes — the output flags and calculates state-specific levies and surcharges where they apply.

How does the skill treat remote or multi-state workers?

Wages are allocated to the state where work is performed; for multi-state workers it uses the principal place of employment, and for truly remote workers it defaults to the employer's state when no clear work state exists.