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The employer/employee relationship - Adviser’s perspective
Published on 01 Feb 12 by "THE TAX SPECIALIST" JOURNAL ARTICLE
The question of whether an individual is an employee or an independent contractor gives rise to many different taxation issues at both federal and state level. These issues impact both the individual and the entity for whom the work is performed. This article addresses important taxation issues, including those relevant to payas-you-go withholding, the superannuation guarantee, payroll tax, fringe benefits tax and WorkCover insurance premiums. Central to these taxes is the nature of the relationship between the parties: whether it is that of employee/employer or contractor/principal.
The article sets out a number of examples and discusses the likely approach of the Australian Taxation Office and a State Revenue Office. The author considers that, in the current changed environment, the revenue authorities’ approach does not sufficiently recognise the responsibility of the individual to
obtain work, to agree to the terms of the provision of the services, and to negotiate an appropriate fee.
Author profile
Steven Batrouney
Steven Batrouney has 30+ years’ experience as a tax advisor and has been specialising in employment taxes including Payroll Tax for over 20 years. His career has primarily been within the profession and the ‘Big 4’. Steve led the employment taxes stream of work with one of the earliest large wage remediation projects. Steve now leads the Tax practice within Prince Consulting Group Pty Ltd, a specialist workforce compliance and optimisation consultancy including Payroll and workforce management, Historic remediation, Tax & superannuation as well as Compliance audits. - Current at 17 April 2025
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