“Positive vibes” in payroll dispute

Thefinancial planning industry has been given its first real glimmer of hope that it may be able to avoid a potentially messy dispute over proposals by state governments to impose payroll tax duties on dealer groups.

The New South Wales Government’s Office of State Revenue (OSR), which is reviewing the application of payroll tax to dealer groups, has approached theFinancial Planning Association(FPA) to gauge how an exemption from the tax may be applied to dealers who employ advisers as independent contractors.

The payroll tax issue has come to a head over the past 12 months after the OSR issued payroll tax assessments to a number of financial planning dealer groups, including Bridges Personal Investment Services.

It is understood the assessments were based on the assumption that planners were direct employees of the dealer groups and not self-employed contractors, exposing the dealers to the payroll duties.

Bridges has objected to the assessment and is taking the case to the Supreme Court of New South Wales, where it is expected to get a hearing in April.

The FPA last week was playing down the approach by the OSR, saying it was part of the ongoing discussions on the issue.

However, the association’s national manager of policy and government relations, Con Hristodoulidis, says it is a positive development on an issue that could have major implications for dealer group revenue.

“It is a move in the right direction. The vibes we are getting are positive. It is a matter now of working through [the OSR’s] understanding of the issues and hopefully there will be a good outcome,” he says.