Cross State Payroll

SA payroll tax calculator

South Australia doesn’t have a single threshold that you subtract and then tax the remainder. It has two separate mechanisms that people routinely collapse into one: a deduction subtracted from your South Australian wages, and a rate band chosen from your gross Australian wages.

Liability = (gross SA wages − deduction) × rate

Wages you paid this financial year

Total gross wages, per state, before any deductions.

Enter every jurisdiction you pay wages in. ACT and NT wages still count toward your total Australian wages — which reduces the threshold you get everywhere else — even though we don’t estimate a liability for those two yet.

Employment period
Grouping and contractors

Estimated payroll tax

Rates last updated:

Enter the wages you paid in each jurisdiction to see an estimated payroll tax figure for each one, side by side.

The deduction

The maximum deduction is $600,000 a year ($50,000 a month), and it’s apportioned by your South Australian share of total Australian wages. RevenueSA’s published example: a business paying $700,000 in South Australia out of $2,100,000 Australia-wide gets a deduction of $200,000 — $600,000 × (700,000 ÷ 2,100,000). The deduction comes off your South Australian wages, not your Australian total.

The rate band

Separately, the rate is chosen from a band determined by your gross Australian wages, before the deduction:

  • Up to $1,500,000 — no payroll tax applies.
  • $1,500,000 to $1,700,000 — a variable rate rising from 0% to 4.95%.
  • Above $1,700,000 — 4.95%.

Because the band is selected on gross wages, a business can land in the top band on its gross figure even though its taxable wages after the deduction are considerably lower. Treating the deduction as if it also reduced the wages used to pick the rate produces a number that looks plausible and is wrong.

Part-year wages are annualised, not prorated

This is the mechanism most likely to be mixed up with another state’s. In NSW, a part-year employer gets a smaller threshold, scaled down by days employed. South Australia does the opposite operation: it scales your wages up to a full-year equivalent to decide which rate band you belong in.

$1,000,000 paid over 211 days
= 1,000,000 ÷ 211 × 365
= $1,729,857 annualised

The rate applicable to $1,729,857 is then the rate used — even though only $1,000,000 was actually paid. Applying NSW-style proration here, or skipping the annualisation entirely, gives the wrong rate band.

Grouping

Grouped employers share one deduction across the group, assessed against the group’s combined wages. See our grouping explainer for how the tests work.

What this page does not model

The variable rate between $1,500,000 and $1,700,000. RevenueSA publishes a rate table setting out how the rate scales across that band, but we could not retrieve it from RevenueSA directly. Interpolating a rate ourselves would be a guess dressed up as a calculation, so if your Australian wages fall in that band we tell you so rather than showing a number. Contact RevenueSA or your tax agent for the applicable rate.

Frequently asked questions

What is the South Australian payroll tax rate?
4.95% once your Australian wages are above $1,700,000. Below $1,500,000 no payroll tax applies. Between those two figures South Australia applies a variable rate that rises from 0% to 4.95% — that band is not modelled here, for the reason set out below.
What is the South Australian payroll tax threshold?
South Australia works differently from most states: there is a registration threshold of $1,500,000 in Australian wages, and separately a deduction of up to $600,000 a year ($50,000 a month) that is subtracted from your South Australian wages. The deduction is not the same thing as the threshold.
How is the SA deduction calculated if I pay wages interstate?
The maximum deduction is apportioned by your South Australian share of total Australian wages. RevenueSA's own worked example: a business with $700,000 in SA wages out of $2,100,000 Australia-wide gets a deduction of $200,000 — that is $600,000 × (700,000 ÷ 2,100,000).
Which wages figure decides my rate — before or after the deduction?
Before. The rate band is selected on your gross Australian wages, and the deduction is then subtracted from your South Australian wages to get the taxable amount. This means a business can be pushed into the top rate band by gross wages even though its taxable wages after the deduction are much lower.
How does South Australia handle a part-year?
By annualisation, not by proration. Where NSW shrinks the threshold in proportion to days employed, South Australia scales your wages up to a full-year equivalent to work out which rate band applies. RevenueSA's example: $1,000,000 paid over 211 days annualises to 1,000,000 ÷ 211 × 365 = $1,729,857, and the rate applicable to $1,729,857 is the rate used. The two mechanisms are not interchangeable.
Is this the official SA payroll tax calculator?
No. This is an independent tool and is not affiliated with RevenueSA. Confirm your liability with RevenueSA or a registered tax agent before lodging.

Source: RevenueSA — payroll tax rates and thresholds. Last verified 2026-08-31.