Are you ready for Single Touch Payroll?

Published Apr 27, 2018

WHAT IS SINGLE TOUCH PAYROLL?

Single touch payroll (STP) is a new reporting system for Employers. STP is designed so employers can capture amounts paid to employees including Salary and Wages, PAYG and Superannuation with each pay run and report these amounts to the ATO. STP will enable employers to combine their payroll payment and reporting obligations into one simple process. From 1 July 2018 this system will be mandatory for employers who at 1 April 2018 have 20 or more employees. For employers with less than 20 employees, STP will become mandatory from 1 July 2019, subject to legislation being passed.

WHAT WILL CHANGE?

Currently employers withhold amounts from employee’s wages when it is paid and report these amounts to the ATO at the time of lodging their BAS. They are then required to provide details of payments and deductions to the ATO and each employee at the end of the financial year in the form of Payment Summaries (Group Certificates). Currently employers are only required to report amounts of Superannuation to employee’s Super Funds at the time of payment.

From 1 July 2018, employers with 20 or more employees will be required to:

Report all payroll information to the ATO on or before payment to employees using STP enabled software. This includes: Salary and Wages, Allowances, Deductions, PAYG and Superannuation liabilities.
Provide a finalisation declaration to the ATO through their STP software to replace currently required Annual Payment Summaries (Group Certificates). This finalisation declaration will signal to the ATO that you have completed all payments for the financial year.
Employers will be able to access employee wage, PAYG and Super via the Business Portal and employees will have access to this information through their myGov account.
New employees will have access to online TFN and Super Choice forms.

HOW WILL I REPORT STP?

You can continue to use your current payroll software if your software provider has a STP solution. You will need to contact your software provider to see what solution they will be offering.

If you currently report to the ATO on paper or your current provider is not offering a STP solution, you will need to find a new payroll solution. Forsyths will be able to recommend and help you implement a suitable STP software solution.

WHERE TO NEXT?

Follow the below checklist to guide you through this process so you are ready to start on 1 July 2018.

If you have any further questions regarding the checklist, please contact one of our helpful team members.

CHECKLIST

STEP 1

Count the number of employees you have at 1 April 2018.

STEP 2

If you have 20 or more employees you will need to report using STP from 1 July 2018. If you have less than 20 employees you will have until 1 July 2019 to report using STP.

STEP 3

Speak to our team at Forsyths or your software provider to see what STP solutions you have available with your current software and when it will be available to start using.

This document has been prepared for general information only and is not intended as personal advice. Any statements of law or proposals are based on Forsyths' interpretation as at the date of issue. Accounting & business services are provided by Forsyths Business Services Pty Ltd ABN 66 182 781 401, liability is limited under a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.

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