TPAR (Taxable Payments Annual Report)
The annual report of what you paid contractors in certain industries.
A Taxable Payments Annual Report (TPAR) tells the ATO what your business paid to contractors during the financial year, and is required for businesses in building and construction, cleaning, courier and road freight, IT and security, investigation or surveillance services. For each contractor you report their ABN, name, address, the gross amount paid including GST, the GST, and any amount withheld. It is due by 28 August.
For building and construction the ATO applies a 50% test rather than an always-report rule: you lodge if you paid contractors for building and construction services and, in the current or previous year, 50% or more of your business income or activity came from those services. Phone numbers, email addresses and bank details are not columns on the report.
Worked example
A plumbing business paid three subcontractors $18,700, $9,350 and $4,400 including GST over the year. The TPAR lists each one with ABN and address, gross paid, the $1,700, $850 and $400 of GST, and $0 withheld — three rows, lodged by 28 August.
Common mistake
Reporting employees. The TPAR is for contractors only; employee wages are reported through Single Touch Payroll, and an ABN-holding worker who is actually an employee belongs there too.
Grounded in ATO — Taxable payments annual report guidance. Figures last checked . General information, not tax advice.
Related terms
ABN (Australian Business Number)
The 11-digit number that identifies your business.
Sole trader
The simplest business structure — you and the business are one.
PAYG withholding vs PAYG instalments
One is tax you hold back for others; one is prepaying your own.
TFN (Tax File Number)
Your personal reference number in the tax system.
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Questions about this term
TPAR (Taxable Payments Annual Report): common questions
- Which industries have to lodge a TPAR?
- Building and construction, cleaning, courier and road freight, IT, and security, investigation or surveillance services. If your business pays contractors in one of those, the report lists what each was paid for the financial year, and it is due by 28 August.
- What details go on a TPAR for each contractor?
- Their ABN, name, address, the gross amount paid including GST, the GST, and any amount withheld. Phone numbers, email addresses and bank details are not columns on the report. Three subcontractors paid $18,700, $9,350 and $4,400 become three rows with $1,700, $850 and $400 of GST and $0 withheld.
- Do employees go on the TPAR?
- No — the TPAR is for contractors only. Employee wages are reported through Single Touch Payroll, and an ABN-holding worker who is actually an employee belongs there too rather than on the contractor report, whatever their invoices say.
- How does the 50% test work for building and construction?
- You lodge if you paid contractors for building and construction services and, in the current or previous year, 50% or more of your business income or activity came from those services. It is a proportion test rather than an always-report rule.
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