The Victorian government has decided to make bulk-billing GPs exempt from a nation-wide many feared would force services to close. / (min cost $ 0 ) or signup to continue reading A government spokesperson said the move was expected to cost the government about $10 million per year, although with primary care a federal responsibility it is unclear who will foot the bill. The decision follows widespread outcry and lobbying from GP and medical alliances at the prospect of applying a long-dormant tax rule to GP practices.
A State Revenue Office ruling in August 2023 said medical practitioners like GPs were operating as "common law employees" of their medical clinics, which meant the medical clinics were liable to pay payroll tax for them. GPs are technically sole traders working with their own licence and ABN, but when they work full time at one clinic they are operating almost identically to a traditional employee. The tax laws that make medical centres liable for payroll tax on their practitioners have been around for decades and never been applied but recent High Court and Australian Tax Office rulings gave state governments the green light to start sending out tax bills.
In Victoria one GP practice manager suddenly found himself liable for $800,000 in taxes because the laws were also being applied retrospectively, going back five years. A long-time GP in Warrnambool in south-west Victoria said many practices would become "non-viable" if the law was . But the government said o.