South Australian payroll tax: the phase-in nobody budgets for
South Australia is the only jurisdiction where the RATE itself climbs with your payroll rather than the threshold shrinking. Between $1.5 million and $1.7 million you are on a moving rate, and that band is where most growing SA employers get their first surprise.
Payroll tax turns on your own circumstances — grouping, interstate wages, contractor arrangements and exemptions all change the answer. It does not constitute legal, HR, or professional advice and should not be relied on as a substitute for advice specific to your business, workforce, or circumstances.
Quick summary
- Threshold: $1.5 million in annual Australian taxable wages (about $125,000 a month).
- Rate: 4.95%.
- Threshold treatment: The rate phases up between $1.5 million and $1.7 million of Australian taxable wages, reaching the full 4.95% above $1.7 million.
- Administered by: RevenueSA.
Verified against RevenueSA on 24 August 2026. Current settings effective from 1 July 2026.
The rate phases in between $1.5m and $1.7m
Everywhere else in Australia, growing past the threshold means your deduction shrinks. South Australia does the opposite: the deduction stays whole and the rate climbs, from effectively zero at $1.5 million up to the full 4.95% once Australian taxable wages pass $1.7 million.
The practical consequence is that a business at $1.6 million cannot look up its rate in a table — it sits on a variable rate determined by exactly where in the band it lands. RevenueSA publishes a rate calculator for this reason, and it is worth using rather than estimating: the marginal cost of the next dollar of wages through that band is materially higher than 4.95%.
Above $1.7 million the arithmetic becomes ordinary again: 4.95% on your South Australian share of wages, with the threshold apportioned if you employ interstate.
What counts as wages
Broader than base pay. Taxable wages include:
- Salary, wages, overtime, penalty rates and loadings
- Commissions, bonuses and allowances beyond the exempt rates
- Superannuation contributions, including salary sacrifice
- Fringe benefits at their grossed-up value, and termination payments
- Payments to some contractors, where the contract provisions deem them wages
The contractor limb generates most assessments. A worker treated as a contractor for income tax can still be caught for payroll tax — and the underlying classification carries consequences well beyond this tax, as contractor and labour-hire obligations covers.
Grouping and interstate wages
Two rules catch employers who believe they are under the threshold. Grouping combines related businesses so they share one threshold rather than one each. And the threshold test uses your Australian taxable wages, not your SA wages — so a national employer with a small SA presence can be liable here on the strength of its interstate payroll, with SA taxing its share and pro-rating the deduction.
Registering and lodging
Register with RevenueSA once you cross the threshold. Returns are generally monthly with an annual reconciliation, and the safest habit is to lodge a nil return rather than skip a period — missed returns attract interest whether or not tax was owing.
How SA compares
Payroll tax is a state tax, so there are eight different answers. Worth knowing in full if you employ across borders or are choosing where to open a second site.
| Jurisdiction | Annual threshold | Monthly | Headline rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | $1.2 million | $101,918 | 5.45% |
| Victoria | $1 million | $83,333 | 4.85% |
| Queensland | $1.3 million | $108,333 | 4.75% – 4.95% |
| Western Australia | $1 million | $83,333 | 5.5% |
| South Australia | $1.5 million | $125,000 | 4.95% |
| Tasmania | $1.25 million | Pro-rated by days | 4% – 6.1% |
| Northern Territory | $2.5 million | $208,333 | 5.5% – 6.5% |
| Australian Capital Territory | $1.75 million | $145,833 | 6.85% – 8.75% |
Each row is maintained in one place and carries its own source link and verification date. The same figures are published as an open dataset at /data/payroll-tax/thresholds.csv.
Common mistakes
- Estimating a rate inside the phase-in band. Between $1.5 million and $1.7 million there is no single rate to look up. Use RevenueSA's calculator.
- Assuming the threshold shrinks. It does not — SA moves the rate instead. Advice written for NSW or Queensland does not transfer.
- Leaving super and fringe benefits out of the wage base. Both are taxable wages.
- Ignoring grouping. Related entities share one threshold, not one each.
Payroll tax starts with an accurate wage base
Every figure here depends on knowing what you actually paid, including overtime, penalty rates and allowances. RosterElf applies award rates to approved timesheets and feeds them to Xero or MYOB, so the wages you report are the wages you paid.
Start free trialGeneral information only, not tax advice. Payroll tax turns on your own circumstances — grouping, interstate wages, contractor arrangements and exemptions all change the answer. Verify with RevenueSA and take advice for your situation.
Other employment law guides
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SA Long Service Leave
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SA Workers' Compensation
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South Australia payroll tax FAQ
- $1.5 million in annual Australian taxable wages, or about $125,000 a month. The rate phases up between $1.5 million and $1.7 million of Australian taxable wages, reaching the full 4.95% above $1.7 million. Below the threshold you have no liability and nothing to lodge.
- 4.95%, applied to the SA share of taxable wages. Rates and thresholds are set independently by each state and territory — the comparison table on this page covers all eight.
- There is no separate small-business exemption — the $1.5 million threshold is the small-business relief, and it is among the more generous in the country. Below it you have no liability and nothing to lodge. There are, however, specific exemptions for wages paid by charities, public benevolent institutions, public hospitals and schools, plus an exemption for wages paid to apprentices and trainees under approved training contracts, which is genuinely valuable for trades employers.