Religious and independent schools in the Australian state of Victoria are opposing a new revenue-raising policy compelling many local education providers to pay payroll tax.
In the 2023-2024 state budget, the Victorian Labor government proposed to remove the payroll tax exemption for non-government schools with high tuition fees to raise money to help repay the massive $31.5 billion debt caused by its COVID-19 measures.
Currently, only government schools are required to pay payroll tax, while all religious and independent schools in the state are exempted.
However, under the new policy, non-government schools with an annual tuition fee of above $8,000 (US$5,280) will have to pay payroll tax from July 1, 2024….