Payroll tax for employers

If you are an NT employer, you must register for payroll tax on wages paid in the Northern Territory if your total Australian payments are more than the monthly threshold.

If two or more businesses are controlled by the same person or people and/or share the use of one or more employees, they are grouped for the purposes of payroll tax.

The combined wages of a grouping will determine if you need to register for payroll tax.

To find out more read the grouping and payroll tax PDF (48.3 KB).

You may not need to register for payroll tax if your organisation is one of the following:

  • charity
  • religious institution
  • non-profit, non-government school or college for wages paid to people providing education at or below secondary level
    • excluding technical schools or colleges
  • public hospital
  • non-profit private hospital
  • local governing body.

You may still need to register for payroll tax if you have staff working in commercial or business activities.

To find out more about the employer's guide to payroll tax in the Northern Territory go to the Department of Treasury and Finance website.

Wages for payroll tax include most payments or benefits provided to employees and contractors such as:

  • fringe benefits
  • commissions, bonuses and allowances
  • superannuation
  • payments in lieu of unused rostered days off or unused leave
  • some parts of termination payments.

You may not need to pay payroll tax for the following payments:

  • workers compensation
  • defence force
  • redundancy
  • maternity, paternity and adoption leave
  • paid parental leave scheme
  • volunteer emergency workers.

In some cases, only part of the above wages will be exempt.

To find out more about the employer's guide to payroll tax in the Northern Territory go to the Department of Treasury and Finance website.

To register online for payroll tax follow these steps:

Step 1. Go to the online INTRA service. You will  need to create an account.

Step 2. Select register.

Step 3. Add your details.

Step 4. Finalise your registration.

You will receive an automatic emailed response.

You will be notified once your application has been approved.

Applications usually take up to 14 days to review and approve.

You must pay payroll tax within 21 days of the end of the month in which your total Australian wages reaches the threshold amount.

For more information contact:

Territory Revenue Office
GPO Box 1974
Darwin NT 0801
Phone: 1300 305 353
ntrevenue@nt.gov.au

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