South Australia Payroll Tax Calculator 2026–27

How South Australian payroll tax is calculated

South Australia uses a formula unlike any other state’s. There is no tax at all until Australia-wide wages pass $1,500,000. Above that, you deduct a fixed $600,000 from wages and apply a rate that phases in between $1,500,000 and $1,700,000, then stays at 4.95%. The rate is set by Australia-wide wages before the deduction is subtracted, so interstate wages push up the rate on your SA wages.

Worked example inside the $1.5m–$1.7m phase-in band

An Adelaide employer pays $1,600,000 in wages, all in SA. The rate is ($1,600,000 − $1,500,000) ÷ $200,000 × 4.95% = 2.475%. Taxable wages after the deduction are $1,600,000 − $600,000 = $1,000,000, so payroll tax is $24,750 for the year.

The phase-in protects small employers from a cliff at the threshold, but it also means a high marginal cost: going from $1,600,000 to $1,700,000 adds $29,700 of tax on $100,000 of extra wages. Once wages pass $1,700,000 the marginal rate settles at 4.95%; at $3,000,000 the bill is $118,800.

Registering through RevenueSA Online

You must register when your Australia-wide taxable wages exceed the SA threshold and you pay wages in South Australia. A group member that pays SA wages must register if the group’s Australian wages exceed the threshold, whatever its own wages. RevenueSA recommends registering once weekly wages consistently exceed the weekly threshold, to avoid penalties.

Registration has two steps in RevenueSA Online: first register as a user, then follow the emailed link to register your organisation for payroll tax. You have 28 days to finish before the draft registration expires. You will need organisation details, estimated and actual wages, bank account details and administrator details. Existing users add a new registration from the briefcase icon instead of signing up again.

Monthly returns and the 28 July annual reconciliation

Monthly returns and payments are due by the 7th of the following month, so January’s return is due on 7 February. The annual reconciliation is due on 28 July. If either date falls on a weekend or public holiday, RevenueSA accepts lodgement on the next business day. The reconciliation recalculates the full year on actual wages, so a business that crossed the threshold part-way through the year, or whose rate phased in, settles the true amount there.

Exempt and non-taxable wages in SA

RevenueSA lists these wages as exempt, so they can be excluded from taxable wages (keep evidence to support each claim):

• Apprentices and trainees.
• Maternity and adoption leave.
• Defence Force payments and pay for volunteer emergency workers.
• Community Development Program wages and JobKeeper payments.

Non-liable payments and the GP bulk-billing exemption

Some payments are not liable at all. These include portable long service leave contributions in the community services and construction industries, redundancy and termination payments, and workers compensation. Commonwealth Paid Parental Leave, dividends, partnership drawings, trust distributions to owners, GST and exact reimbursements of business expenses are not wages either.

Since 1 July 2024 medical practices can claim an exemption deduction for general practitioner wages related to bulk-billed services. It is worked out by applying the share of GP items that were bulk billed to the practice’s total GP wages, excluding administrative and other non-GP staff, and the detail is set out in the Payroll Tax Regulations 2025. Some employers, such as child care centres, non-profit organisations, health service providers and universities, must apply to RevenueSA for an exemption with their constitution and latest audited annual report. Local government and some other bodies do not need to register at all.

Interstate employers, cancelling registration and payment difficulty

Interstate wages count twice in South Australia. They decide whether you must register at all, and because the rate is set by Australia-wide wages, an employer with only a small SA payroll but more than $1,700,000 of wages nationally pays the full 4.95% on its SA taxable wages. For the same reason the calculator above, which assumes all wages are paid in SA, will understate the bill for a national business.

RevenueSA says a registration may need to be cancelled when an organisation no longer employs in South Australia, when its wages (or its group’s) fall below the threshold, or when it starts employing under a new ABN and stops using the old one. Cancel through RevenueSA rather than simply stopping lodgement, because returns stay due while the registration is active.

If you cannot pay on time, contact RevenueSA as early as possible. It may extend the time to pay or agree a payment plan.