Mark Butler to meet doctors over Qld’s controversial GP payroll tax

Queensland general practitioners’ payroll-tax crisis is threatening to become a national problem if other states follow suit, warns a national medical peak body.

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler will speak to a peak medical organisation this week about the controversial Queensland payroll-tax crisis, which GPs say is affecting their ability to bulk-bill and, in some cases, even keep their doors open.

Mr Butler, who is due to hand down a report into proposed reforms to Medicare in the coming weeks, confirmed he had been keeping an eye on the issue.

A new interpretation of laws means money paid to GP clinics from Medicare is captured under payroll tax, leading to practices having to fork out thousands of dollars in unexpected bills.

Health Minister Mark Butler. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Brenton Edwards

As part of the pre-existing review into Medicare, Mr Butler said more pressure was being put on bulk-billing practices.

But he said payroll tax remained an issue for state governments.

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president Dr Nicole Higgins, who is urging the Palaszczuk government to grant a payroll-tax exemption to GPs, warned the issue was threatening to become a national problem if other states followed suit.

“What the state payroll-tax interpretation is doing is to undermine the federal Medicare reforms,” she said.

Mr Butler acknowledged he was aware of the developing issue.

“Payroll-tax issues are a matter for state governments,” he said.

“There have been developments over the last 12 or 24 months at different state levels about the treatment by state treasuries or state tax offices of general practice.

“I’ve been watching those developments.

“I’ve had some communication with the College of General Practice... we’re trying to make time to speak over the next few days.”

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president Dr Nicole Higgins. Picture: Supplied

The state government has so far played off the new interpretation as “the usual course of business”, with a spokesman for acting Treasurer Stirling Hinchliffe on the weekend saying that offering an exemption to one sector meant increasing the tax burden on other Queenslanders.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli has been calling for the state government to sit down with medical organisations, saying it was affecting Queenslanders “immeasurably”.

The RACGP is warning the payroll tax could push the price of seeing the doctor up by 15 per cent, reduce the number of bulk-billing practices, and leave more regional towns without GPs.