The Victorian Government will add more non-government schools to its payroll tax hit list, four weeks after making assurances that the list of schools subject to payroll tax would not change. Source: The Age.
Education Minister Natalie Hutchins said yesterday that while the income threshold of $15,000 per student would remain in place, schools would be assessed annually on their inclusion on the list.
“The threshold has been set at $15,000 and will remain in place until at least January 1, 2029, when it will be reviewed,” Ms Hutchins said.
“Using the annual data provided to the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), non-government schools will be assessed on an annual basis against the threshold, and if a school’s total income per student exceeds the threshold the school will become subject to payroll tax.
“If a school’s total income per student falls below the threshold, the school will no longer be subject to payroll tax.”
Any new non-government schools opening between now and 2029 were already set to be assessed against the threshold and that remains in place.
The tax was originally planned to contribute $420 million towards covering the state’s COVID debts, but will reap $100 million less after the Government lifted the threshold from $7500 to $15,000.
Opposition education spokesman Matt Bach said the Government’s tax was an “unmitigated shambles” that must be scrapped immediately.
Catholic Education Commission of Victoria executive director Jim Miles said that only four weeks ago the Government had assured them the list of schools subject to payroll tax would not change.
“This at least provided certainty for our schools,” he said. “This continuation of policy on the run by the state Government is deeply disappointing and a gross breach of trust. It makes it difficult to take any future statements on this issue at face value.”
FULL STORY
More private schools to be hit with payroll tax after government backflip (By Robyn Grace and Lachlan Abbott, The Age)
