Victoria Payroll Tax for Accountants

Victoria payroll tax is an employer tax calculated from taxable Victorian wages, with Australian wages determining the threshold and deduction. Reconcile the client’s wage components, group position and regional eligibility before lodging monthly returns or the annual reconciliation in PTX Express.

Confirm the Victorian Employer Position

Register an employer that pays Victorian wages when its taxable Australian wages exceed the applicable threshold. Vic is the abbreviation for Victoria. The State Revenue Office (SRO) administers Victorian payroll tax, while PTX Express is its payroll tax portal.

Start with the employing entity and the period under review. Victorian wages are the amounts allocated to Victoria under the wage and nexus rules. Australian wages include Victorian and interstate taxable wages. The national payroll tax guide explains the broader interstate context.

Check the Payroll Tax Act 2007 and its version history before interpreting liability or grouping. The register identifies version 041 as in force in 2026. Earlier returns need the version operative during their period, including changes within a financial year.

Related corporations, common control and employees working for another business can trigger grouping. Establish the group’s Australian wages and designated group employer before claiming a deduction. Keep ownership records, staff arrangements and any exclusion decision with the workpaper.

Follow the SRO’s registration procedure:

1. Calculate taxable Australian wages and confirm the registration trigger for the relevant period.
2. Obtain the client’s authority for the practice to prepare the registration.
3. Gather business details, wage records for the previous four years and connected-business details.
4. Submit the payroll tax registration through the SRO’s PTX Express registration route.
5. After confirmation, create the login using the required details and one security-question answer.

An exemption needs its own basis. For an organisation seeking exempt status, retain its constitution, activities and SRO decision. The exemption application procedure requires a written application outside PTX Express. Apply any wage-specific exemption separately.

Check the Victorian Wage Calculation

Build taxable wages from the underlying records before applying the threshold. Reconcile salary and ordinary wages to payroll reports, then review superannuation, fringe benefits, allowances, bonuses and termination payments. Directors’ fees, shares or options and taxable contractor payments also need review under the SRO’s wage guidance.

Keep exempt amounts in a separate column with the reason and evidence. The SRO’s exempt-wage rules distinguish full exemptions from capped allowances. A payroll code labelled exempt does not establish the statutory treatment.

Use financial years when answering enquiries about 2023, 2024, 2025 or 2026. A calendar year can span two schedules. These maximum deductions assume entitlement before interstate, employing-period or phase-out adjustments.

Financial year	Maximum annual deduction	Maximum monthly deduction	Standard rate	Eligible regional rate
2022-23	$700,000	$58,333	4.85%	1.2125%
2023-24	$700,000	$58,333	4.85%	1.2125%
2024-25	$900,000	$75,000	4.85%	1.2125%
2025-26	$1,000,000	$83,333	4.85%	1.2125%
2026-27 under the published continuing schedule	$1,000,000	$83,333	4.85%	1.2125%

The SRO’s historical rates and current rates supply these figures. The standard rate stays the same across these periods. A higher liability can instead come from changed wages, reduced deductions or surcharges.

The deduction phases out for Australian wages between $3 million and $5 million. The phase-out rate is 45% for 2024-25 and 50% from 2025-26. At $5 million, the deduction reaches zero. Follow the SRO’s phase-out calculation for interstate or part-year employers.

A Fictional Wage Workpaper

Assume a non-group metropolitan employer operates for the full 2025-26 year. It pays $1.2 million taxable Victorian wages and $800,000 interstate wages. Its Australian total is $2 million, below the phase-out band.

The annual Victorian deduction is $1 million multiplied by $1.2 million divided by $2 million, or $600,000. Primary tax is ($1.2 million minus $600,000) multiplied by 4.85%, or $29,100. A Victorian-only employer with the same $1.2 million Victorian wages has a $1 million deduction and $9,700 primary tax.

Monthly calculations use annual wage estimates for the interstate proportion. If the fictional employer estimates the same 60% Victorian share, its maximum monthly deduction is $83,333 multiplied by 60%, or $49,999.80. Reconcile estimates to actual annual wages at year-end.

For a separate fictional Victorian-only employer with $4 million annual wages, the 2025-26 deduction is $1 million minus 50% of $1 million, or $500,000. Primary tax is $169,750. If an employer operates for half the year, the employing-period adjustment also reduces its deduction. A group shares its entitlement through the designated group employer. Each member cannot claim the full threshold.

Large employers also need the surcharge calculation. The mental health and COVID-19 debt surcharges each charge 0.5% above the first threshold, with another 0.5% above the second. Combined marginal surcharges are 1% and 2%. The Australian annual thresholds are $10 million and $100 million, adjusted for Victorian share and part-year employment where applicable.

For later-year enquiries, use the published continuing schedule together with any operative amendment. A proposed change does not establish the rate for a return.

Access PTX Express for the Client

Use the SRO’s official PTX Express page to reach the login. Payroll tax express is the PTX Express return service. Victorian enquiries labelled SRO, Vic SRO or OSR belong with the Victorian SRO, not another state’s revenue portal.

Have the client’s authority, customer number and employing-entity records ready. For a group, also obtain the group number and employer classification. The portal supports additional users, so arrange authorised practice access without circulating the client’s credentials.

For a forgotten password, use the SRO’s password recovery procedure. Select Forgotten your password?, enter the customer ID and email address, answer one security question and select Reset My Password. The SRO emails a new password. Use Help in PTX Express or the SRO’s contact route if recovery or account details need assistance.

Reconcile Regional Employer Wages

The regional rate depends on employee work locations and the share of Victorian taxable wages paid to regional employees. A regional business address alone does not establish entitlement.

Under ruling PTA-042v2, assess where each employee physically performs services. For employees working across states, the regional test considers their Victorian services. More than half of those services must occur in regional Victoria for that month.

Then test whether at least 85% of Victorian taxable wages go to regional employees. Apply that test monthly for monthly returns and over the financial year for the annual reconciliation. Earlier periods need the regional definition and ruling then applicable.

For example, a fictional employer pays $1.2 million annual Victorian taxable wages, including $1.05 million to regional employees. Its share is 87.5%, above the annual test. At $1 million deduction, its 2025-26 primary tax is $200,000 multiplied by 1.2125%, or $2,425, assuming full-year employment and no interstate wages.

Retain employee-location evidence and separate regional and non-regional wage components. Assess each group member separately. The SRO’s regional employer guidance explains mixed schedule returns and annual adjustments when some months fail the regional test.

Complete the Victorian Annual Reconciliation

The annual reconciliation compares the year’s taxable wages and liability with primary tax already paid. Prepare wage-component totals, interstate wages and employing periods before opening the return. Have the FBT return and regional wage breakdown ready where relevant. A designated group employer also needs member wages and payments.

Follow the SRO’s annual reconciliation instructions:

1. Update employer records if employing periods, employer type or group details changed.
2. Select Annual Reconciliation, confirm the financial year and choose Begin.
3. Review employer details and enter the reconciled wage amounts.
4. Compare the payment list with primary tax paid. Explain any correction to the total.
5. Review the calculated liability or overpayment against the workpaper and obtain client approval.
6. Select Lodge on the Lodgement page and retain the lodgement number.
7. Use the displayed payment options and save the payment receipt.

PTX Express adjusts the annual deduction for the number of days employed. Recheck stopped-employing answers and group periods before accepting its calculation. Exclude penalty and interest from primary tax payments.

For a monthly return cycle, lodge even when the month has no liability. The normal payment rule is seven days after month-end, adjusted to the next business day for a weekend or public holiday. The final month of the financial year goes into the annual reconciliation instead of a separate monthly return.

The annual lodgement and payment rule is 21 days after financial year-end, or the next business day. The SRO does not offer annual reconciliation extensions. Use its monthly return rules and annual deadline instructions for the actual year, including retrospective 2025 work. Preserve the client’s registration-letter return frequency and any applicable period-specific relief.

Check the Lodged Victorian Result

Compare the accepted annual return with the final workpaper and the payments actually credited. A remaining balance needs payment using that return’s reference. An overpayment needs the refund or credit treatment recorded, with any other unpaid liability considered.

Download View PDF Summary from the Annual Reconciliation actions. Keep the PDF, lodgement number, client approval and payment evidence together. The expected result is agreement between wage totals, deduction, applicable rates and the accepted liability.

For a mistake, follow the SRO’s annual correction procedure. Select Edit for the return, change the affected figures and review every calculation that changes. Select Lodge again and retain the new lodgement number. The online editing window is limited. Older financial-year corrections go through the SRO on 13 21 61.

Monthly errors use a replacement return for the relevant period. Apply for a refund through PTX Express or ask the SRO to credit an overpayment to a future return. Give the client the accepted result and identify who will make any remaining payment.