Payroll tax settings not working for the regions

Queensland Fruit & Vegetable Growers (QFVG) is calling on the State Government to review payroll tax settings and adopt a more reasonable compliance approach, warning that current arrangements are creating inequity and placing additional pressure on growers already battling soaring input costs.
 
QFVG CEO Scott Kompo-Harms said the organisation had written to the State Revenue Commissioner and Treasurer this week regarding issues affecting a member, but stressed the case highlighted broader systemic problems.
 
“This is not an isolated issue – it points to a deeper problem with how the system is currently designed and administered,” Mr Kompo-Harms said.
 
“At present, the way the regional payroll tax discount is applied does not pass a fairness test. You can have neighbouring farms, growing the same crops, competing in the same markets, but paying different rates of tax based purely on arbitrary boundaries.”
 
“In horticulture, labour is the single biggest input cost. A one per cent difference in payroll tax can have a significant impact on a business’s viability and competitiveness.”
 
The organisation also raised concerns about what it described as a heavy-handed compliance approach by the Queensland Revenue Office (QRO), particularly in cases where businesses have made genuine errors and are trying to do the right thing.
 
“We are seeing situations where growers who had made genuine mistakes are being hit with large, backdated tax bills, years after the fact and significant interest, followed by aggressive debt recovery timelines,” he said.
 
“That approach is not warranted and is particularly damaging at a time when growers are already dealing with sharply rising fuel, fertiliser, and labour costs.”
 
Mr Kompo-Harms said a more constructive, education-focused approach was needed immediately.
 
“Growers overwhelmingly want to comply. What they need is clear guidance and support – not punitive action as a first response,” he said.
 
QFVG is calling on the State Government to:

• Adopt a more reasonable, education-first compliance approach from QRO.

• Review the regional payroll tax discount settings to ensure fairness and consistency.

• Provide more direct assistance to growers facing escalating input costs.

The organisation said it would work constructively with the State Government and regional MPs to progress reforms.
 
“We want to be part of the solution,” Mr Kompo-Harms said. “We’re ready to work with government to ensure the settings are fair, consistent and actually reflect the realities of regional production.”
 
QFVG also pointed to the significant economic contribution of the horticulture sector, which adds more than $6 billion annually to the Queensland economy and supports nearly 45,000 jobs - almost 88 per cent of them in regional areas.
 
“This is an industry that underpins regional communities,” Mr Kompo-Harms said.
 
“When growers thrive, regional Queensland thrives. That’s why it’s so important policy settings support, rather than undermine, their ability to operate.”