As all the employers, tax practitioners and digital service providers get ready for Single Touch Payroll reporting along with bookkeeper have been co-designed with many people includes tax practitioners. On 1 April 2018 employers will need to do a headcount to determine if they have 20 or more employees. On 1 July 2018 employers with 20 or more employees need to start reporting year to date figures for salary and wages, pay as you go withholding and superannuation liabilities on each incident which you pay.
There are a small number of employers sending us their payday reports for Single Touch Payroll through five different payroll software solutions. The ATO is reviewing this data and providing feedback to the digital service provider to refine their processes before they roll out their payroll products to all employers.
What will change with the comprehensive suit Single Touch Payroll?
Each time you pay your employees, you should report the tax and super information for your Single Touch Payroll (STP)-enabled payroll solution. You don’t need to provide payment summaries to your employees for the payments you report through STP. Employees can easily access their payment information in ATO online services, which they can access through their myGov portal. This link opens in a new window account. Your employees can also request a copy of this information from the ATO. To be exempt from giving payment summaries, you will need to make a finalized declaration. From July 2019 activity statements need to be pre-filled labels W1 and W2 with the information we have received from you. If you are a small to medium withholder, you will continue to lodge an activity statement as you do now.
The new law – from 1 July 2018
Employers with 20 or more employees need to report to the Commissioner through Single Touch Payroll-enabled software. The following information should be published on or before the day you withhold from a payment (the payday):
• All information related to Payment, including salary or wages, allowances, deductions, etc.
• Withholding amounts
• Superannuation liability information or ordinary times earnings (OTE).
Employers who report on all the information is required to report through Single Touch Payroll and will not have to comply with the other reporting obligations under the existing law. This includes providing specific payment summaries and payment summary of the corresponding period. They will need to give a finalized declaration with us.
You can report through Single Touch Payroll (STP) in one of the following ways:
Either Report from your current payroll solution if it is STP-ready, or
Report from the new payroll solution which is STP-ready. (Ask a third party, such as your registered agent, to report through STP on your behalf.)