If you’re an employer with 20+ employees, you’re probably already aware of Single Touch Payroll (STP). However, as of 1 July 2019, STP kicks in for all businesses regardless of the number of employees.
So just what is Single Touch Payroll?
Parliament recently passed legislation to extend Single Touch Payroll (STP) to include small employers (less than 20 employees). Larger businesses with 20+ employees have been reporting since 1 July 2018.
In simple terms, STP is an automated way of sending tax and super information to the ATO from your payroll or accounting software each pay event — weekly, fortnightly, monthly, or whenever you pay your employees.
The information supplied to the ATO will include:
- Year-to-date totals of gross wages, allowances, deductions, and gross tax for each employee being paid.
- Year-to-date amount of Superannuation Guarantee that has been accrued.
- W1 gross wages and W2 gross tax for the pay run (so that the ATO will eventually pre-fill these totals for the BAS period onto the BAS for employers who report W1 and W2 on the BAS).
Superannuation payment information will be sent to the ATO by the SuperFunds with the information used by the ATO to check that you are paying.
Importantly, it will ensure your employees get their full superannuation entitlements, provide greater transparency, and ensure a level playing field for small business. It will also streamline business reporting and keep pace with the ever-changing digital landscape.
What do I have to do?
If you’re a Being Accountable client, don’t panic!
As a Certified Bookkeeper, we have already ensured that this initiative will automatically happen. We’ve been implementing STP reporting since July last year and are fully trained, resourced, and ready to support our clients should they need it.
From your perspective, the only thing you will need to do, is to ensure your payroll system employee information is up-to-date including name, address, date of birth, and tax file number. We’ll take care of the rest!