Preparing to engage workers
If you are thinking about engaging workers, there are a few things you will need to consider and organise to meet tax and super obligations. One thing you must do is make sure your workers are legal – that is, they must be Australian citizens, permanent residents or non-citizens with Australian visas that allow them to work.
Find out more
Employing legal workersExternal Link
End of find out more
Determine whether your workers are employees or contractors. It is important you know the difference between the two because your tax and super obligations will vary, depending on whether your worker is an employee or contractor.
Pay as you go (PAYG) withholding
When you pay employees or contractors, you may need to withhold tax from their pay and send these amounts to us regularly. You will need to withhold tax from:
o employees
o contractors who have a voluntary agreement with you
o contractors who do not provide you with an ABN.
You need to pay superannuation for both your employees and for any contractors you are paying primarily for their labour. You need to establish your default super fund. You also need to understand about super choice arrangements.
When you provide fringe benefits to your employees or to their associates, such as payment of school fees, you may have to pay FBT. When you provide benefits to contractors you will generally not attract FBT.
When benefits are provided by an associate of yours or a third party under an arrangement with you, you may also have to pay FBT.
Most of the expenses you incur as a result of engaging workers are eligible tax deductions.
Setting up a workplace giving program
You may consider setting up a workplace giving program to allow your employees to regularly donate to charities.
Comments are closed.