Western Australia Payroll Tax Calculator 2026–27

WA payroll tax at a glance

Western Australia payroll tax is 5.50% on taxable wages after a deductible amount that starts at $1,000,000 and tapers away as the payroll grows. Below is the full-year amount for a single employer paying all its wages in WA, with the deductible amount the calculator applies.

Worked example: payroll tax WA on $3 million of wages

Start with the deductible amount: $1,000,000 − ($2,000,000 × 2 ÷ 13) = $692,308. Taxable wages are $3,000,000 − $692,308 = $2,307,692, and payroll tax is 5.50% of that, or about $126,923 for the year (4.23% of the payroll).

Between $1,000,000 and $7.5 million, each extra dollar of wages costs about 6.35%, because the rate applies to the dollar and the deductible amount also shrinks. Once the deduction is gone, the marginal cost falls back to the flat 5.50%.

Registering for WA payroll tax through RevenueWAConnect

Register within seven days after the end of the month in which you pay wages in WA (or the Indian Ocean Territories) and your total Australian taxable wages exceed $83,333 for the month. For a group, the combined Australian wages of all group members decide whether each member that pays WA wages must register.

Registration and lodgement run through Revenue Online, which you reach by signing in to RevenueWAConnect. First-time users register for Revenue Online access and accept its terms and conditions before setting up the payroll tax account.

Returns, payment and the 21 July annual reconciliation

WA uses three lodgement frequencies, depending on your estimated annual liability:

• Monthly (the default; required at $150,000 or more): due 7 days after the end of each month, and a return is required every month even if no tax is payable.
• Quarterly (estimated liability under $150,000): due 7 days after the end of each quarter.
• Annual (estimated liability under $20,000): due 21 days after the end of the year.

Why the annual reconciliation matters in WA

The June return is lodged with the annual reconciliation by 21 July. As part of it you correct earlier returns, declare your Australian taxable wages for the year just ended and estimate taxable wages for the coming year. RevenueWA works out the actual deductible amount once every group member has lodged its wages and completes the reconciliation process in mid-August, so the deductible amount used in your monthly returns during the year is only provisional.

The reconciliation is more than paperwork. RevenueWA says that if you do not lodge Australian taxable wages or estimated taxable wages on time, you (or your group) are not eligible for a deductible amount, so a much higher amount of tax becomes payable for the year.

Correcting a WA return and handling groups

Mistakes are fixed differently depending on timing. Wage details for periods that have not yet been reconciled can be changed in Revenue Online; once a year has been reconciled, changes must be requested from RevenueWA in writing.

Groups share one $1,000,000 threshold. The combined Australian taxable wages of every member decide whether each member that pays WA wages must register, and they also set the size of the group’s deductible amount, so the 2/13 taper starts from the group’s total wages, not each company’s. A business that adds a related entity, or buys into one, should check its group position before the next monthly return.

Which wages are taxable in Western Australia

WA taxes wages, salary, commissions, bonuses and allowances in cash or in kind, plus salary sacrifice amounts, superannuation, fringe benefits, termination payments, employee share acquisitions and contractor payments under the relevant contract rules. When an employee works in more than one state, four tests are applied in order to decide which state can tax the wages: the employee’s principal place of residence, the employer’s registered ABN address or principal place of business, where the wages are paid, and where the work was mainly performed.

RevenueWA’s exemptions include:

• Apprentices under a registered training contract for a Class A or B qualification, for the life of the contract. Trainees whose training contracts were registered from 1 July 2019 are not exempt.
• Paid maternity, parental and adoption leave up to 14 weeks at full pay (or up to 28 weeks at half pay).
• Workers’ compensation payments made under the Workers’ Compensation and Injury Management Act 1981.
• Defence Force leave and pay for service as a volunteer firefighter, SES or Marine Rescue volunteer.
• Motor vehicle and overnight accommodation allowances up to the prescribed limits.