Employer Update

Employers with 19 or fewer employees are required to start reporting through Single Touch Payroll (STP) from 1 July 2019.

For employers under the STP the following changes will occur:

  • You will be reporting salary and wages, PAYG withholding and super information to the ATO at the same time as you pay your employees.
  • You are no longer required to give your employees a payment summary at the end of the financial year for the information you report through the STP system.
  • Year-to-date and end-of-year tax and super information for your employees will be available in their ATO online account linked to my Gov.

The ATO will be working with employers to support them as they transition to STP, including allowing small employers to start reporting any time from 1 July to 30 September.

The ATO recognises there will be circumstances where more time is needed to implement STP or lodge reports.  They will:

  • Offer micro employers (1 to 4 employees) help to transition to STP. Where a micro employer relies on a registered tax or BAS agent they can report quarterly for the first two years.
  • Grant deferrals to any small employer who requests additional time to start STP reporting.
  • Apply no penalties for mistakes, missed or late reports for the first year; and
  • Provide exemptions from STP reporting for employers experiencing hardship or in areas with intermittent or no internet connection.

Note also that employers with 19 or less employees do not need to report ‘closely held payees’ in 2019/20 and can report closely held payees information quarterly from 1 July 2020.

We remind our QBO users that QBO is ready and compliant for STP.   Please also note that assistance is available for clients who need someone to demonstrate the workings of STP and we are happy to visit you on-site to work through the various procedures.

Please contact our office if you require any further assistance or information regarding your STP obligations.

Employees and Payment Summaries

The ATO has also reminded employees that how they get their end of financial year information from their employer, showing their earnings for the year, depends on how their employer reports their income, tax and super information to the ATO.

Specifically:

  • Employers that are not yet reporting through STP will continue to provide employees with a payment summary by 14 July.
  • Employers that report through STP are no longer required to give employees a payment summary; instead this information will be provided in an ‘income statement’, available via the employee’s myGov account by 31 July (i.e., when the employer marks it as ‘Tax Ready’).

Please contact our office if you have any queries about STP either as an employer or employee.