P1 Personal services income (PSI)
Personal services income (PSI) is income that is mainly a reward for an individual’s personal efforts or skills.
You do not have to complete item P1 if you gained your PSI as an employee.
Item P1 concerns sole traders only. Answer No below.
You do not have to complete item P1 if you received your PSI through a company, partnership or trust. Answer No below.
Examples of PSI are:
- income of a professional practitioner in a sole practice
- income payable under a contract which is wholly or principally for the labour or services of a person
- income derived by a professional sportsperson or entertainer from the exercise of professional skills
- income derived by consultants from the exercise of personal expertise.
PSI does not include income that is mainly:
- for supplying or selling goods, for example, from retailing, wholesaling or manufacturing
- generated by a significant income-producing asset, such as a bulldozer
- for granting a right to use property, for example, the copyright to a computer program
- generated by a business structure, for example, a large accounting firm.
Did you receive any PSI?
No |
Print X in the No box at item P1 on your schedule. |
Yes |
Print X in the Yes box at item P1 on your schedule. Read on. |
If you have earned PSI but not as an employee, you may not be able to claim certain deductions in relation to earning that income – for example, rent, mortgage interest, rates or land tax for your home, or payments to your spouse (or other associate) for support work, such as secretarial duties. This depends on whether:
- you have a personal services business determination from the Commissioner of Taxation stating that your PSI was from conducting a personal services business for the whole of the period you earned PSI, or
- you satisfied one of the four tests in Part A
If you earned PSI as a sole trader, you need to read on and answer one or more of the questions in Part A to determine whether deductions in relation to your PSI are affected by the PSI rules.
The PSI rules do not affect your legal, contractual or workplace arrangements; you won’t be treated as an employee as a result of the rules.
Part A
Did you satisfy the results test?
If you earn PSI, you satisfy the results test in the income year if, in respect of at least 75% of this income, you can answer yes to all of the following three questions in relation to your work:
- Under your contract or arrangement, was the PSI paid to achieve a specified result or outcome?
- Did you have to provide the tools or equipment necessary to do your work? (If no tools or equipment were required, answer yes.)
- Were you liable for rectifying defects in your work?
You are paid to achieve a result under your contract when your contract requires the production of a specified result or outcome, and payment is conditional upon that outcome being achieved. The essence of the contract is to achieve a result and not just do work as required.
Yes |
Print X in the Yes box at P item P1 on your schedule. Go to P2 Description of main business or professional activity. |
No |
Print X in the No box at P item P1 on your schedule. Read on. |
Have you received a personal services business determination from the Commissioner that was in force for the whole of the period you earned PSI?
This is a notice from the Commissioner stating that you are conducting a personal services business. If you have a personal services business determination from the Commissioner, the PSI rules do not apply to your PSI and any deductions.
Yes |
Print X in the Yes box at C item P1 on your schedule. Go to P2 Description of main business or professional activity. |
No |
Print X in the No box at C item P1 on your schedule. Read on. |
Did you receive 80% or more of your PSI from one source?
If you don’t satisfy the results test and 80% or more of your PSI in the income year came from one client and its associates, you cannot self-assess whether you satisfy the other personal services business tests. The PSI rules apply to you unless you get a determination from the Commissioner.
If you don’t satisfy the results test, you can self-assess against the other tests only if less than 80% of your PSI came from each client.
You should consider PSI obtained by merely putting your name with a labour hire firm, placement agency or similar organisation as income from one client.
Commission agents
Special rules apply to commission agents. For more information, phone 13 28 66.
Yes |
Print X in the Yes box at Q item P1 on your schedule. Go to Part B. |
No |
Print X in the No box at Q item P1 on your schedule. Read on |
Did you satisfy the unrelated clients test?
You will satisfy the unrelated clients test in the income year if you can answer yes to the following question:
- Did you receive PSI from two or more clients who are not associated with each other or with you?
You must also provide the personal services work as a direct result of making offers to the public, for example, by advertising. Do not count clients obtained by merely registering with a labour hire firm, placement agency or similar organisation.
No |
Read on |
Yes |
Print X in the box at D1 item P1 on your schedule. Read on. |
Did you satisfy the employment test?
You satisfy the employment test in the income year if you can answer yes to either of the following questions:
- Did you have one or more apprentices for at least half the income year?
- Did you have employees or did you engage subcontractors or entities who performed at least 20% (by market value) of your principal work?
Principal work is the main work that generates the PSI and does not usually include support work, such as secretarial duties. You can count a spouse or a family member who does principal work, but not companies, partnerships or trusts associated with you.
No |
Read on |
Yes |
Print X in the box at E1 item P1 on your schedule. Read on. |
Did you satisfy the business premises test?
You satisfy the business premises test if you can answer yes to all of the following questions.
For the whole period during which you earned PSI, were your business premises:
- maintained by you
- mainly used by you for work earning your PSI, for example, more than 50% of the use
- used exclusively by you
- physically separate from your private residence or the private residence of any of your associates
- physically separate from the business address of your clients or their associates?
No |
Read on |
Yes |
Print X in the box at F1 item P1 on your schedule. Read on |
If you printed X at D1, E1 or F1, go to P2 Description of main business or professional activity. Otherwise read on.
Part B
Do not show PSI amounts that were subject to foreign resident withholding in part B. Show these at item P8
You need to know
You must complete part B of item P1 if you received PSI and you did not:
- receive a personal services business determination in relation to your PSI
- satisfy the results test, or
- satisfy at least one of the other three personal services business tests
(if less than 80% of your PSI came from each client).
PSI is divided into:
- income that was subject to a PAYG voluntary agreement to withhold tax
- income from which tax has been withheld because you did not quote your Australian business number (ABN) to one of your payers
- income received under a labour hire arrangement or from a specified payment
- other PSI.
Goods and services tax (GST)
If you are registered or required to be registered for GST, do not include any GST amounts in your assessable income. Your deductions should not include any amounts that relate to input tax credit entitlements.
Former STS taxpayers
If you are eligible and are continuing to use the simplified tax system (STS) accounting method, you must complete the income and deduction parts of item P1 using the STS accounting method. For more information, read Former simplified tax system (STS) taxpayers.
You may need to complete an Individual PAYG payment summary schedule
If tax has been withheld from business income, you should have received a payment summary.
You will need to complete the Individual PAYG payment summary schedule 2016 (NAT 3647) before completing the rest of item P1 if you received one of the following payment summaries:
- PAYG payment summary – business and personal services income
- PAYG payment summary – withholding where ABN not quoted.
While the PAYG payment summary – business and personal services income allows reporting of different payment types (including labour hire or other specified payments and voluntary agreement) you must specify on the schedule the nature of the income and the payment type made to you.
For further information, see the next section How to complete the Individual PAYG payment summary schedule 2016.
A payer may issue a receipt, remittance advice or similar document in place of the PAYG payment summary – withholding where ABN not quoted. This document must contain the same details as the payment summary and be signed by the payer.
If you received income from which tax was withheld and you did not receive or have lost your payment summary, contact your payer and ask for a copy.
How to complete the Individual PAYG payment summary schedule 2016
Step 1 Write your tax file number (TFN) and name in the appropriate boxes at the top of the schedule.
Step 2 Nature of income, print X in the Personal services income box.
Step 3 For each payment summary, transfer the following information to the schedule:
- the type of withholding (look at your payment summary to determine its type and complete the Type box, using the following key)
V voluntary agreement
N withholding where ABN not quoted
S labour hire or other specified payments - the payer’s ABN or withholding payer number (WPN) and the payer’s name in the appropriate boxes
- the total tax withheld in the Tax withheld box
- the gross payment in the Gross payment box.
Step 4 Check that you have recorded details from all relevant payment summaries on your payment summary schedule then attach the schedule to page 3 of your tax return.
Do not attach the payment summaries to your tax return. You must keep them for a period of five years.
Payers must report to us details of payments where amounts of tax have been withheld. This information will be cross-checked with that on your tax return to make sure that you have declared the correct amount of income and the correct amount of tax withheld.
You may need two payment summary schedules. If you have both PSI (item P1) and business income (item P8), you will need to complete an Individual PAYG payment summary schedule 2016 for each type of income.