Most Aussie companies now report their employees, salariesand wage information, Pay-As-You-Go PAYG withholding and retirement obligationsto the Australian tax office ATO every pay period using Single Touch Payroll(STP).
STP is a feature built into most accounting softwarepackages that is linked to the ATO for payments. Employees can see thesepayments when they are updated through their government portals. This meansthat employers do not have to provide their employees with a statement ofpayment for the information reported through STP, or provide separateinformation to different government agencies. It's all done in one location atonce.
From July 1, 2018, employers with more than 20 employees andfrom July 1, 2019, employers with 19 or fewer employees were required to reporttheir employees PAYG and pension via STP.
New changes in STP
Further changes to STP will take effect from July 1, 2021.This will affect small businesses with closely tracked beneficiaries and microemployers completing quarterly STP reporting. Reporting can be per payday,monthly or quarterly. Meticulous employees were previously exempt fromreporting through STP.
Closely detained employees
A closely held employee is an employee directly related tothe entity from which he receives payments. This includes:
Family members of a family business
Directors or shareholders of a company
Beneficiaries of a Trust
Visit Also: BAS Agent in Australia
Micro companies
If you are a micro business with less than five employees,you must start the STP reporting from July 1, 2021. Concessions are availableif your business complies with the exceptional circumstances of the ATO,including no or unreliable internet connection or only season - or employinterrupted employees.
Pro Tax Tip: If you haven't started reporting through STPyet, you should start reporting as soon as possible.
A registered tax agent for a micro business files an STPreport once per quarter. The expiration date for the STP submission will be thesame as the expiration date of the company's BAS. If the STP report issubmitted quarterly, it must be submitted the same day as the BAS. STP can bereported monthly on or before the 21st of each month.
Information required
The quarterly report should include the amount of youremployees since the beginning of the year to the last payday of the quarter,their total gross pay, and their total amount withheld for PAYG. You can reportany individual payment event for the quarter or a single combined payment eventthat reports all information in the quarter.
Expansion of data
During the changes to the 2019-2020 budget, the federalgovernment announced that it would expand the data collected through STP -known as phase 2. This is to reduce the burden on employers having to reportinformation about their employees to multiple government agencies. and ensureconsistency of the information with the interactions of Services Australia.
The mandatory start date for STP Phase 2 is January 1, 2022.
Phase 2
Phase 2 of STP reporting aims to reduce the duplication ofend-of-employment information and reporting child support attachment anddeduction amounts paid voluntarily through STP rather than through a manual method.
The employee's tax file number and source citations arerecorded in the benefits section of the STP report.
Employee income, such as their salary and wages, income fromforeign labor, payments to closely related employees and working holidaymakers arereported.
Pro Tax Tip: If you use a registered tax agent to file yourreturn, they can access your information through a direct link from the ATO sothey are fully equipped to file your tax return as usual.
Talk to an NUMBERSPRO tax accountant about how they canprovide quarterly reporting and what they need from you to file on your behalf.
For more information visit website www.numberspro.com.au
