Disclaimer
Estimate only. This tool applies the payroll levy rate and the eligible wages formulas in the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Payroll Levy Collection Act 1992 and the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Payroll Levy Regulations 2018 to figures you enter. It is general information, not legal, tax, accounting or financial advice. Using it creates no adviser relationship.
The levy rate applied is 2.7%, checked on 18 September 2026. It applies to eligible wages paid on or after 1 July 2023; reporting months before July 2023 are refused because the earlier rate is not implemented. Section 6 of the Payroll Levy Regulations 2018 prescribes that percentage for the purposes of section 5 of the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Payroll Levy Act 1992, which imposes the levy. Check the current prescribed percentage on the Federal Register of Legislation before relying on any figure.
This is not a lodgement channel. Your monthly return must be made on the Levy Advice form approved under the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Payroll Levy Collection (Return Form) Instrument 2023, downloaded fresh each month from Coal LSL. Where anything here is inconsistent with the Acts, the Regulations or the approved form, those prevail.
This tool does not decide whether an employee is an eligible employee, does not calculate long service leave accrual or reimbursements, and does not calculate additional levy on late payments. The Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Legislation Amendment Act 2026, assented to on 6 July 2026, added an unpaid levy payment arrangement and changed the additional levy for late payment. Neither change touches section 3B or the 2.7% rate, and this tool calculates neither.
Eligible wages vary each month. Do not set a fixed or automatic levy payment from any figure produced here.
Ryan Duguid gives no guarantee and accepts no liability for the accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of the output. Verify against Coal LSL.
What this tool does not resolve
The notes below distinguish rules in the Act from questions this tool does not resolve. Where a payment or employment arrangement remains unclear, ask Coal LSL before including it.
- Does the levy apply to employer superannuation?
- Are termination payments (redundancy, payment in lieu of notice, severance and leave paid out) eligible wages?
- Is paid leave (annual, personal or carer’s, public holidays, and long service leave taken) eligible wages?
- Is unpaid leave eligible wages? The Levy Advice form has a section for it.
- Does shift loading count for base rate and casual employees? Section 3 takes 'base rate of pay' from section 16 of the Fair Work Act 2009, which excludes loadings, so shift loading sits outside the base rate in section 3B(1)(a) and section 3B(3)(a). Section 3B(2)(b) excludes it expressly for annual salary employees. Section 3B(1)(b) takes 75% of the base rate of pay together with at-least-monthly incentive payments and bonuses, overtime, penalty rates, and allowances other than expense reimbursements, and does not name shift loading; section 3B(3)(b) uses an 'ordinary rate of pay' that the Act does not define, so those 2 formulas do not say.
- Do allowances, overtime and penalty rates count for casual employees? For a casual with a quantifiable casual loading, section 3B(3)(a) starts from the base rate of pay, and the incorporated Fair Work Act definition excludes monetary allowances, overtime and penalty rates. The branch adds back only incentive-based payments, bonuses and the casual loading, so those amounts sit outside eligible wages there. For a casual without a quantifiable loading, section 3B(3)(b) uses the ordinary rate of pay and does not say.
- Do allowances count for annual salary employees? Section 3B(2) excludes overtime, penalty rates and shift loading and does not mention allowances.
- Does a fortnightly or weekly bonus satisfy 'paid at least once a month'? This tool assumes it does.
- What does 'can be quantified' mean for a casual loading where an instrument names a percentage but the employee is paid a single all-in rate?
Rounding
The Act, the Regulations and the guidance note publish no rounding rule. This tool rounds the levy half up to the nearest cent at the final step only, and shows the unrounded figure above whenever it differs from the rounded figure.
Common questions
What levy rate does this calculator use?
2.7% of eligible wages, the prescribed percentage in section 6 of the Payroll Levy Regulations 2018 as checked on 18 September 2026. It applies to eligible wages paid on or after 1 July 2023; earlier reporting months are refused. Confirm it on the Federal Register of Legislation before relying on a figure.
What does the 75% in Formula B apply to?
For a non-casual employee paid a base rate, section 3B(1)(b) applies 75% to the base rate of pay, incentive payments and bonuses paid at least once a month, overtime and penalty rates, and allowances other than expense reimbursements, added together, not to the base rate alone. The paragraph reads '75% of the base rate of pay paid to the employee, including' those components, and the Coal LSL guidance note sets Formula B out as 75% of that total. An amount that reimburses an expense is excluded by section 3B(1)(b)(iii). With $6,000 base pay, $3,000 overtime and penalty rates, and $500 of allowances that are not expense reimbursements, Formula B is 75% of $9,500, which is $7,125.00. Reducing only the base rate and adding the other amounts in full would give $8,000.00; that is not the formula. Eligible wages are then the greater of Formula A ($6,000.00) and Formula B. The annual salary and casual branches use their own formulas. Verified against Compilation No 12 of the Act (C2026C00364, in force 1 September 2026) on 18 September 2026.
Which bonuses count towards eligible wages?
Weekly, fortnightly and monthly bonuses count. Quarterly, half-yearly and annual amounts are left out rather than spread across the year.
Does the levy apply to employer superannuation?
Section 3B does not mention it at any point, so this tool does not guess a treatment and offers no input for it.
How does this tool round the levy?
Half up to the nearest cent, once, at the final step. The Act, the Regulations and the guidance note publish no rounding rule, so the unrounded figure appears whenever it differs.
Can I lodge my monthly Coal LSL return with this tool?
No. This is not a lodgement channel. The monthly return must be made on the Levy Advice form approved under the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Payroll Levy Collection (Return Form) Instrument 2023, downloaded fresh each month from Coal LSL.
Software issue using fictional data? Open an issue or email with the tool named in the subject. If the email link does not open, the contact page spells the address out.