Single Touch Payroll Update

Single Touch Payroll (STP) officially commenced for larger employers on 1 July 2018, and the ATO has provided some further guidance for affected entities.

The ATO is writing to employers who started reporting through STP before 1 July 2018, providing them with information about how their employees’ payment summary for 2017/18 may change with STP, including the following:

• They are not required to provide their employees with payment summaries for the information they report through STP (although they may choose to provide payment summaries for the first year of STP reporting).
• ‘Income statements’ will replace payment summaries.
• Employees’ income statements are available through pre-filling and myGov.
• The income statement has three categories: ‘Tax ready’, ‘Not tax ready’ and ‘Year-to-date’.  Only ‘tax ready’ income statements are complete and will be available through pre-filling.
• Income statements may not be tax ready until 14 August this year.  Employers have until this date to finalise their STP data.

The ATO has also recognised that some employers may not have been ready to start STP reporting from 1 July 2018, and these employers (or their tax agent) may be able to apply for a deferral.

For example, employers that live in an area where there is no internet connection, or where the connection or service is intermittent or unstable, can apply for a deferral or even (in very limited circumstances) an exemption.

Please contact our office if you would like our assistance in this regard.