A WA parliamentary question seeks information on the cost of raising the payroll tax threshold and the revenue derived from companies above certain wage levels. The response provides some data but declines to answer one part due to resource constraints.

AnsweredQoN 607Legislative Council
Asked
17 June 2008
Portfolio
parliamentary secretary representing the Treasurer

QuestionView source ↗

PAYROLL TAX
(1) What would be the annual cost to government of raising the payroll tax annual wage threshold to — (a) $1 million; (b) $2 million; (c) $3 million; and (d) $6 million? (2) What is the annual amount of payroll tax revenue from all those employers with annual wages above — (a) $2 million; (b) $3 million; and (c) $6 million? (3) Is it possible to determine the amount of payroll tax revenue derived annually from publicly listed companies; and, if so, what is the amount? Hon KATE DOUST

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The minister has provided the following response. (1) To accurately cost a proposed policy it would be necessary to have access to the entire proposal. Further information about payroll tax and the cost of payroll tax concessions is available in appendix 6 of budget paper No 3, Economic and Fiscal Outlook , and Overview of State Taxes 2007-08 . (2) The following amounts are based on 2006-07 payroll tax returns — (a) $1 497 million; (b) $1 419 million; and (c) $1 275 million. (3) This would require a manual inspection of more than 11 700 payroll tax registrations and the extraction of data for relevant employers. Given the significant resources required and the benefits to be achieved, I do not believe answering this question to be in the public interest.
(b) $2 million; (c) $3 million; and (d) $6 million?
(c) $3 million; and (d) $6 million?
(d) $6 million?
(b) $3 million; and (c) $6 million?
(c) $6 million?
Hon KATE DOUST replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The minister has provided the following response. (1) To accurately cost a proposed policy it would be necessary to have access to the entire proposal. Further information about payroll tax and the cost of payroll tax concessions is available in appendix 6 of budget paper No 3, Economic and Fiscal Outlook , and Overview of State Taxes 2007-08 . (2) The following amounts are based on 2006-07 payroll tax returns — (a) $1 497 million; (b) $1 419 million; and (c) $1 275 million. (3) This would require a manual inspection of more than 11 700 payroll tax registrations and the extraction of data for relevant employers. Given the significant resources required and the benefits to be achieved, I do not believe answering this question to be in the public interest.
I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The minister has provided the following response. (1) To accurately cost a proposed policy it would be necessary to have access to the entire proposal. Further information about payroll tax and the cost of payroll tax concessions is available in appendix 6 of budget paper No 3, Economic and Fiscal Outlook , and Overview of State Taxes 2007-08 . (2) The following amounts are based on 2006-07 payroll tax returns — (a) $1 497 million; (b) $1 419 million; and (c) $1 275 million. (3) This would require a manual inspection of more than 11 700 payroll tax registrations and the extraction of data for relevant employers. Given the significant resources required and the benefits to be achieved, I do not believe answering this question to be in the public interest.
(1) To accurately cost a proposed policy it would be necessary to have access to the entire proposal. Further information about payroll tax and the cost of payroll tax concessions is available in appendix 6 of budget paper No 3, Economic and Fiscal Outlook , and Overview of State Taxes 2007-08 . (2) The following amounts are based on 2006-07 payroll tax returns — (a) $1 497 million; (b) $1 419 million; and (c) $1 275 million. (3) This would require a manual inspection of more than 11 700 payroll tax registrations and the extraction of data for relevant employers. Given the significant resources required and the benefits to be achieved, I do not believe answering this question to be in the public interest.
(2) The following amounts are based on 2006-07 payroll tax returns — (a) $1 497 million; (b) $1 419 million; and (c) $1 275 million. (3) This would require a manual inspection of more than 11 700 payroll tax registrations and the extraction of data for relevant employers. Given the significant resources required and the benefits to be achieved, I do not believe answering this question to be in the public interest.
(b) $1 419 million; and (c) $1 275 million.
(c) $1 275 million.

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