No appeal in Bridges payroll-tax dispute

By George Liondis

The payroll tax threat against financial planning dealer groups appears over for good, after the NSW Government decided against appealing the verdict of its high stakes case against Bridges Financial Services.

In a landmark Supreme Court judgement last month, Bridges was cleared of a multi-million dollar payroll tax liability, which the NSW Office of State Revenue claimed it was owed for the years between 1995 and 2000.

The NSW Office of State Revenue had been given until September 21 to lodge an appeal to the verdict.

However, a spokesperson for the Government authority confirmed to Money Management last week that it had formally decided against an appeal.

The news will come as a huge relief for Bridges, which stood to be hit with a bill of $3.177 million if the case had gone against it.

The decision is also good news for other dealer groups, which could have faced similar claims if the NSW Office of State Revenue had won the case against Bridges.

The NSW Office of State Revenue was arguing that Bridges planners were either direct employees of the dealer group or relevant contractors — both of which carry payroll tax implications.

If the court had ruled against Bridges, it could have opened the door for other financial planning groups to be hit with similar claims.

The spokesperson for the NSW Office of State Revenue said it had “accepted the decision of the court in this matter”.