The Upper House will be forced to vote again on the controversial bank tax after its attempt to scrap it was rejected in the Lower House on Thursday night.

The South Australian Government sought to impose a $370 million levy on major banks operating in SA, but the proposal proved controversial with the Opposition vowing to block it after meeting with bank executives.

The measure to impose a 0.015 per cent impost on 6 per cent of major banks' liabilities lost by just one vote in a late-night sitting in the Upper House on Wednesday, sending the measure back to the Lower House on Thursday.

Labor MP Kyam Maher yesterday told the Upper House the Liberal Party was trying to wreck the budget.

"If this precedent is set that an Opposition feels at liberty to pick large pieces of the budget apart, that will be something that Labor in opposition will remember and take full advantage of," he said.

"There is no part in any budget that will be safe from vandalism by a future Labor opposition should this particular amendment get up and this bill be blocked."

But Liberal MP Rob Lucas said it was hypocritical of the Government to claim previous budget measures bills had never been amended when it happened as recently as last year.

"We're doing no more, no less than the Government did last year and the Labor Opposition did in 1996 in relation to a money bill," he said.

The amended Budget Measures Bill includes payroll cuts for small businesses, stamp duty concessions and pre-construction grants for off-the-plan apartments.

SA Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis announced plans to levy the major banks during this year's budget. ( ABC News: Malcolm Sutton )

Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis said he did not plan on making any changes to the proposed bill.

"We expect this budget bill to pass," he said.

He said a full-year net profit of $5.3 billion announced by NAB today along with plans to axe 6,000 jobs was proof the major banks should be subjected to a levy.

"If they just put that money aside, [it] could pay the South Australian major bank levy for over 250 years," Mr Koutsantonis said.

"So let's end this lie that somehow our tax is going to affect the investability of South Australia, the profitability of the banks."

Opposition Leader Steven Marshall said he had no intention of changing his opposition to the tax on the big banks, despite NAB's massive profit announcement.

The Upper House will next vote on the bank tax when State Parliament sits in two weeks.