From 1 July 2018 businesses with 20 or more employees were required to report payments such as salaries and wages, pay as you go (PAYG) withholding and super information to the ATO directly from their payroll solution when they pay their employees. From 1 July 2019, all employers -regardless of your number of employees- will be required to report through Single Touch Payroll (STP).

Through STP, your business is required to submit your employee’s payroll and super information to the ATO directly from your chosen payroll software upon completion of each pay run.

Some key information to note:

  • Pay cycles can remain as they are. You can still choose to pay your employees weekly, fortnightly or monthly.
  • Employees weekly, fortnightly or monthly.
  • The due date for payment of PAYG withholding and super contributions will remain unchanged; however, your business will now have the option to make payments earlier.
  • Payments which are reported through STP will be pre-filled into your monthly or QuarterlyBusinesses Activity Statements
  • There will be no need to provide your employees with a payment summary at the end of the financial year as current salary, and wage information will be made available to them via their myGov account, or their accountant can access this information via the Tax Agent Portal.

If you’d like to know more about Single Touch Payroll, please contact us, as we can help you prepare and ensure your accounting software is STP compliant.