The RACGP has sponsored three billboards in Victoria ahead of the state election this month.
Victorian GPs have taken their payroll tax grievances to the public, with the RACGP renting out three billboards in key seats ahead of the state election on 28 November.
Each of the billboards will carry a message about the high costs of doing business in Victoria, and the potential for GP clinics to close down due to payroll tax pressures.
“Small businesses have 33 different taxes and levies that they are responsible for, and one of the key issues for general practice is that many general practices are paying payroll tax, which, based on the way their businesses operate, we believe that they’re not actually liable for,” RACGP Victoria chair Dr Anita Muñoz told The Medical Republic.
“And the basis for that belief is that the majority of GPs in Victoria are tenant doctors, and therefore not employees of practices.
“We’ve been having this conversation with the Labor government for now about five years, actually, and earnest conversations with the [State Revenue Office].
“But our advice has been that they will not see the issue in in any way other than the SRO believes every conceivable business model for general practice is liable for the tax. We certainly don’t see it that way.”
Both the Liberal National coalition and the Greens have agreed to implement an industry-wide payroll tax exemption if they win power this month.
According to the RACGP, coalition leader Jess Wilson has pledged to reconvene parliament early in order to get the issue resolved this calendar year.
Labor has not matched any of these promises.
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The billboards are all located in seats currently held by Labor; Bendigo, Box Hill and Niddrie.
Bendigo East is currently held by former premier Jacinta Allan, while Niddrie is the seat of incumbent premier Ben Carroll.
“[We chose] seats where we expect that there is potential for a swing to occur, but also these are places where people do struggle to see their GP, or we hear about GP affordability and where communities have noticed that general practices have closed,” Dr Muñoz said.
Bendigo GP and clinic director Dr Dan Harbison told TMR that the mounting costs of payroll tax meant his practice was not able to provide as much service as it wished to.
“At some point, some of this cost might be put onto our patients and, by extension, our community,” he said.
“And we don’t want that.”
Dr Harbison said it had been frustrating to hear political messaging from federal politicians talking up the positives of bulk billing, while state-based politicians did not address the issue of payroll tax.
“I just don’t really understand how we’ve got two different messages coming from the federal and state governments,” he said.
Because GP payroll tax is no longer an issue in states like Queensland and WA, Dr Harbison said it had become difficult to attract new GPs to regional Victoria.
“We can’t really compete against doctors wanting to go to different states,” he said.
According to RACGP-run polling, almost two in five GP clinics across Victoria plan to reduce bulk billing or increase fees over the next 12 months if payroll tax conditions do not change, with half saying that they were “extremely concerned” about the long-term viability of general practice in the state.
