How to prepare film and TV cast and crew payments in Australia

Screen-talent payments layer engagement, tax, super, GST, commission and usage facts. A wrong assumption early can flow all the way to the bank file. Here is a review sequence, the sources used for supported calculations, and the decisions that remain with you and your advisers.

Step 1: contractor or employee

Everything downstream depends on this. In practice most screen engagements fall into one of two shapes.

• ·ABN contractor. The performer or crew member invoices through an ABN. Quoting an ABN generally avoids no-ABN withholding, but classification and any special withholding treatment still need review. Screenpay does not automatically calculate voluntary-agreement, promotional-entertainment or foreign-resident withholding; enter an externally sourced amount instead. If they are GST-registered, GST may be part of the tax invoice. Super can also apply, see step 3.
• ·PAYG employee. Obtain and retain the ordinary withholding result from the current ATO schedule, payroll system or registered adviser. Review SG coverage, the applicable earnings base and any exception rather than assuming every gross dollar attracts 12%.

Step 2: the gross fee

Start with the negotiated fee: the base rate, plus any overtime, loadings, and adjustments such as meal penalties, travel or wardrobe. These come from the relevant award or agreement. On how those rates are set, see MEAA and TVC rates explained.

Step 3: super, even for contractors

The step producers miss most is assuming an ABN settles super. Sections 12(3) and 12(8) can extend coverage to labour contracts and specified performance or production work by an individual. If SG applies, it is paid to the fund on top rather than deducted from the payee; the earnings base must also be classified.

Full detail in the deemed-employee super guide. And from 1 July 2026, the ordinary fund-receipt window is 7 business days from payday, with 20 business days for a qualifying first contribution, under Payday Super.

Step 4: PAYG withholding

For PAYG employees, obtain the result from the current ATO schedule, payroll software or a registered adviser and retain its source. Contractors quoting an ABN generally have no withholding, subject to the actual arrangement. Screenpay supports the confirmed Australian-resident no-TFN Scale 4 calculation. No-ABN, voluntary-agreement, promotional-entertainment and foreign-resident outcomes must be entered as an externally sourced amount because their full eligibility and exception facts are not represented. See the special withholding guide.

Step 5: GST and agency commission

• ·GST. A taxable supplier price can be quoted GST-exclusive (10% is added) or GST-inclusive (the GST component is 1/11 of the price). Screenpay requires that amount meaning explicitly; it never infers it from the supplier's registration flag. Mixed, GST-free, input-taxed or apportioned supplies require external calculation and adviser review.
• ·Agency commission. Screenpay can model a producer-confirmed percentage as a deduction from the talent's gross-to-net calculation. The actual agency agreement, GST/invoice treatment and who must pay the agent can differ. Screenpay does not hold agent routing details or create an agent payment instruction, so reconcile and pay that amount separately.

Step 6: the net, and the files

Under the selected model, the cash instructed to the payee is gross, plus GST if it applies, less PAYG withheld and the recorded agency commission. Super goes to the fund separately; PAYG and commission also require their own settlement/reconciliation. The run prepares a bank-format ABA for payer-bank validation, accounting reconciliation worksheets, a current-period non-YTD payroll/STP reconciliation worksheet, an internal super planning schedule, a confidential internal batch pay record, and a confidential internal evidence pack. Neither worksheet is lodgeable or import-ready. Both PDFs contain every payee and must never be sent to an individual talent.

1. Classify: contractor or employee.
2. Gross: base plus overtime and adjustments.
3. Super: classify coverage and the earnings base; if applicable, record it on top.
4. PAYG: retain the ordinary external result or confirm the facts for the supported Australian-resident no-TFN mode; no-ABN uses an externally verified amount.
5. GST: apply the confirmed no-GST, GST-exclusive or GST-inclusive amount treatment. Commission: deduct the recorded producer-confirmed amount.
6. Export: bank-format ABA for payer-bank validation, non-import-ready accounting and payroll/STP reconciliation, plus confidential internal records.

How Screenpay handles it

Screenpay records the fee and treatment you select, calculates supported super, Australian-resident no-TFN withholding, GST and commission lines, and shows the source used. Ordinary employee PAYG, no-ABN and other unsupported special withholding outcomes are entered from your external result. Approval blocks unconfirmed super bases and withholding sources, then prepares a bank-format payee-net ABA for payer-bank validation, accounting reconciliation worksheets, a current-period non-YTD payroll/STP reconciliation worksheet and confidential internal batch evidence as one set. The reconciliation worksheet is not an ATO schema or lodgeable payload. You separately settle super, PAYG and any agent amount through the appropriate channels. Screenpay never holds or moves the money.

Guide reviewed 7 August 2026. Sources reviewed: SGAA 1992 (s12(3), s12(8), 12% SG); A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999; Taxation Administration Act 1953 Sch 1 (PAYG); Withholding Schedules Instrument 2026, Schedule 1 (NAT 1004). The review date is not a guarantee that every applicable rule is current. Confirm treatment for your engagements with a registered tax agent. See the other guides.