Private ruling: Pay as you go withholding
Date of advice: 5 July 2017
Published: October 2017
Ruling period: Year ended 30 June 2017 | Year ended 30 June 2018 | Year ended 30 June 2019 | Year ended 30 June 2020 | Year ended 30 June 2021
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 2016

Ruling: Q1: Is there an obligation on the entity to withhold from payments made to individuals under section 12-35 of Schedule 1 to the Taxation Administration Act 1953 (TAA)? | A1: No After considering your facts against the relevant indicators, we accept that there is no obligation on you to withhold from payments made to individuals as they are not employees. Further information on the Commissioner’s view can be found in Taxation Ruling TR 2005/16 Income tax: Pay As You Go - withholding from payments to employees.

Relevant facts and circumstances: As part of the entity's operations it invites persons to perform certain tasks. The persons who perform these tasks receive payments in respect of performing the tasks. They are paid on a one-off basis and there are different payments for different tasks. Each year a large number of persons perform tasks for the entity. Persons performing the tasks must be independent of the entity to ensure they are free from bias and the persons all have expertise in the area of the specific task. None of the persons performing the tasks are employees of the entity (they do not sign employment contracts with the entity). The entity is under no legal obligation to pay the persons. Persons performing these tasks may elect to not receive payment for performing a task. Persons do not need to travel to the entity to perform the tasks and incur no expenses. Typically, persons will spend a few days performing a task. The majority of persons used only perform a small number of tasks in their entire careers.

Relevant legislative provisions: Taxation Administration Act 1953 Section 12-35 to Schedule 1