Visit the key dates for payroll tax webpage and schedule these dates in your calendar to avoid missing lodgement dates and additional costs associated with late lodgement.
Learn more about becoming a shared equity partner approved by the Chief Commissioner of State Revenue, to support home buyers in purchasing property in NSW.
We ensure compliance by employing a range of compliance activities across the taxes and benefits we administer.
On this page
Our tax system relies on your honesty to voluntarily self-assess and comply with your tax obligations.
Our compliance approach aims to:
encourage and assist you to comply by providing information and tools
detect and deter non-compliance by taking a targeted, risk-based approach
provide a level playing field and minimise disruption to you and your business.
We ensure compliance by employing a range of compliance activities across the taxes and benefits we administer.
Information we exchange with the ATO
We work closely with the Australian Tax Office (ATO) to share information and data.
We use ATO information to:
identify businesses that should be registered for payroll tax by using the data from business activity statements (BAS)
identify differences in payroll tax by matching ATO’s data on business wages, salaries and fringe benefits with our data
identify discrepancies in property-related sales for duties and exemptions for land tax
identify recipients of first home benefits who receive a duty exemption or concession, and recipients of the First Home Owner Grant who may not have met the eligibility and residency requirements, through rental and tax return information.
The ATO uses our information to:
identify businesses that should be registered for pay as you go (PAYG) withholding tax
identify discrepancies in property-related sales with reference to income tax, goods and services tax, fringe benefits tax and capital gains tax.
If you have tax liabilities for example, you must lodge a payroll tax return, you may also have federal tax and superannuation liabilities. If you must lodge a payroll tax return, you must also withhold tax from payments to employees and provide superannuation. Check your federal tax and superannuation obligations on the ATO website.
Interest and penalty tax
You will be charged interest and a penalty tax if you commit a 'tax default' under the taxation and revenue laws we administer.
Investigations
Sometimes, you can make errors because you don’t understand your legal obligations. We’ll help you update your tax affairs and understand your obligations. We conduct regular investigations to ensure you pay the correct tax or duty. We provide the highest standards of integrity and service when conducting our investigations.
Computer assisted verification
Sometimes, when we do audits and investigations, we use computer assisted verification techniques to analyse electronic financial records. These techniques are not appropriate in every case.
Phoenix activity
We are a member of an inter-agency Phoenix Taskforce, a whole-of-government approach to combat phoenix activities and identify individuals and entities engaging in fraudulent activity.
Contact us to make a voluntary disclosure of understated liability, or to report a member of the public. Voluntary disclosures attract a reduced level of interest compared to cases where we identify the understatement.
Compliance activities identified 6,442 landholders with potential Land tax surcharge liabilities, resulting in the identification of $122.9 million in additional revenue.
Reviews of 29,885 landholders who were either unassessed or incorrectly exempted from Land tax identified $455.7 million in additional revenue.
Compliance investigations of 2,019 taxpayers with unassessed or incorrectly exempted Parking Space Levy obligations identified $17.3 million in additional revenue.
Payroll Tax
Investigated 2,019 registered Payroll tax customers and identified over $217 million in additional revenue.
Undertook lodgement enforcement activity on 7,466 customers and identified over $153 million in additional revenue.
Investigated 99 large refund requests, reduced the refund payments by $740,558 and identified $4.1 million in additional revenue.
Identified 1,586 unregistered businesses with undeclared payroll tax liabilities of over $111 million.
Other Business Taxes
Completed 27 Insurance Duty investigations and identified $2.6 million additional duty, interest and penalty tax.
Completed 24 Mineral Royalty investigations and identified $23 million additional royalty, interest and penalty tax.
Duties
To strengthen governance of the Electronic Duties Returns program, 5,139 audits of client-processed documents were conducted, resulting in the recovery of $30.6 million in duties, interest, and penalties.
A large-scale data-driven compliance program targeted transactions potentially liable for Surcharge Purchaser Duty, reviewing 535 transactions and recovering $25.4 million in duties, interest, and penalties.
83 transactions involving Australian-based developers eligible for surcharge exemptions were assessed, yielding $6.8 million in additional duty payments.
444 Landholder Duty investigations identified $75.2 million in duties.
2,883 motor vehicle transactions referred by Transport for NSW were examined, resulting in the collection of $2.3 million in additional duties, interest, and penalties.
Further investigations into potential duties liabilities uncovered $3.1 million in additional duty.
First Home Benefits
932 investigations into transactions that received duty exemptions or concessions recovered $12.9 million, including interest and penalties.
22 First Homeowner Grant investigations led to grant repayments totalling $0.2 million, including penalties, due to non-compliance with post-transaction conditions.
Investigated 11,804 landholders with potential Land tax surcharge liabilities, identifying $170.5 million in additional Land tax surcharge revenue.
Reviewed 28,767 landholders who were either unassessed for Land tax or had incorrect exemptions applied, identifying $459.7 million in additional Land tax revenue.
Investigated 1,607 customers with unassessed or incorrectly exempted Parking Space Levy liabilities, identifying $9.5 million in additional Parking Space Levy revenue.
Payroll Tax
Investigated 2,298 Registered customers and identified over $155 million in revenue.
Undertook lodgement enforcement activity on 7,284 customers and identified over $137 million in additional revenue.
Investigated 92 Large refund requests, reduced the refund payments by $2.5 million and identified $4.1 million in additional revenue.
Identified 1,449 unregistered businesses with over $79 million in additional revenue.
Other Business Taxes
Completed 22 Insurance Duty investigations and identified $6.3 million additional duty, interest and penalty tax.
Completed 29 Mineral Royalty investigations and identified $59.1 million additional royalty, interest and penalty tax.
Generated $0.34 million in additional levy, interest, and penalty tax revenue from Health Insurance Levy compliance activities.
Duties
To strengthen governance of the Electronic Duties Returns program, 2,882 audits of client-processed documents were conducted, resulting in the recovery of $19.1 million in duties, interest, and penalties.
A large-scale data-driven compliance program targeted transactions potentially liable for Surcharge Purchaser Duty, reviewing 515 transactions and recovering $32.4 million in duties, interest, and penalties.
73 transactions involving Australian-based developers eligible for surcharge exemptions were assessed, yielding $1.8 million in additional duty payments.
500 landholder and corporate reconstruction investigations identified $158.5 million in duties.
3,220 motor vehicle transactions referred by Transport for NSW were examined, resulting in the collection of $2.1 million in additional duties, interest, and penalties.
Further investigations into potential Duties liabilities uncovered $9.9 million in additional duty.
First Home Benefits
668 investigations into transactions that received duty exemptions or concessions recovered $10.7 million, including interest and penalties.
55 First Homeowner Grant investigations led to grant repayments totalling $0.5 million, including penalties, due to non-compliance with post-transaction conditions.
Investigated 13,959 landholders who did not pay land tax surcharge and identified $115.4 million in additional land tax surcharge.
Investigated 31,233 landholders who were not assessed for land tax or had incorrect exemptions applied and identified $320.5 million in additional land tax.
Investigated 2,192 customers that were not assessed for Parking Space Levy or had incorrect exemptions applied and identified $10.4 million in additional Parking Space Levy.
Payroll Tax
Investigated 2,126 registered payroll tax customers and identified over $102 million in additional payroll tax.
Undertook lodgement enforcement activity on 7,733 customers and identified over $164 million in compliance revenue.
Investigated 105 large refund requests and reduced the refund payments by $8.7 million.
Identified 1,130 unregistered businesses with undeclared payroll tax liability of over $53 million.
Other Business Taxes
Completed 5 Health Insurance Levy investigations and identified $280k in additional levy, interest, and penalty tax.
Completed 31 insurance duty investigations and identified $4m in additional duty, interest and penalty tax.
Completed 25 mineral royalty investigations and identified $10m in additional royalties, interest and penalty tax.
Duties
To strengthen governance of the Electronic Duties Returns program, 2,387 audits of client-processed documents were conducted, resulting in the recovery of $3.28 million in duties, interest, and penalties.
A large-scale data-driven compliance program targeted transactions potentially liable for Surcharge Purchaser Duty, reviewing 766 transactions and recovering $27.9 million in duties, interest, and penalties.
34 transactions involving Australian-based developers eligible for surcharge exemptions were assessed, yielding $3.08 million in additional duty payments.
435 landholder duty investigations identified $52.9 million in duties.
2,737 motor vehicle transactions referred by Transport for NSW were examined, resulting in the collection of $1.65 million in additional duties, interest, and penalties.
Further investigations into potential duties liabilities uncovered $6.9 million in additional duty.
A Tax Gap analysis was undertaken involving a review of 2983 transactions to gain insights into compliance levels and potential risks. The analysis will allow us to identify learning and education opportunities where we can better support our customers.
First Home Benefits
519 investigations into transactions that received duty exemptions or concessions recovered $6.4 million, including interest and penalties.
92 First Homeowner Grant investigations led to grant repayments totalling $1 million, including penalties, due to non-compliance with post-transaction conditions.
99 investigations related to First Home associated benefits and grants resulted in the recovery of $2 million in grants and benefits requiring repayment.
