7-Eleven has been cleared of claims it had not paid payroll tax in New South Wales for three years, with the NSW Office of State Revenue (OSR) confirming the convenience chain is registered in the state and has met all of its tax obligations.
The confirmation comes after the NSW OSR released a response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request suggesting that 7-Eleven was not registered for payroll tax in NSW.
The FOI documents had been requested by NSW Labor’s Daniel Mookhey. Mr Mookhey said the FOW documents showed the convenience chain and its franchisees hadn’t paid payroll tax in NSW for at least the past three financial years.
NSW OSR has since stated that it “has identified 7-Eleven businesses, including 7-Eleven Stores Pty Ltd, registered to pay payroll tax which have been voluntarily meeting their obligations in each of the three years stated above”.
In a statement on its website NSW OSR said “an unintentional error occurred in the identification of 7-Eleven entities that may be liable to be registered for payroll tax”.
“OSR is continuing to work with the Victorian SRO (who is coordinating on behalf of all relevant jurisdictions) to ensure that the correct payroll tax has been paid by 7-Eleven franchisees.”
7-Eleven continuously rejected the claims it had dodge paying payroll tax, with a spokesperson telling C&I Week the company has paid $9 million in payroll tax in NSW and Victoria over the past three years.
“We meet all of our tax obligations as they fall due. We have not sought to avoid nor have we avoided payroll tax obligations,” the spokesperson said.
7-Eleven told C&I Week it had approached the Victorian SRO in October last year, to seek advice on whether there were any state tax implications arising out of its wage repayment program.
“7-Eleven has therefore been working with the Victorian SRO, who is also acting on behalf of the other states, on this issue for nearly 12 months. These discussions are well advanced,” the company spokesperson said.
“Any accusation that the company avoids its tax obligations is appalling, disgraceful and untrue.”
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