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Single Touch Payroll has just passed legislation for smaller employers
Single Touch Payroll (STP) is a way of sending tax and super information to the ATO from your payroll or accounting software each time you pay your employees. The information you report will include your employees' salaries and wages, allowances, deductions (for example, workplace giving) and other payments, pay as you go (PAYG) withholding and superannuation information.
Single Touch Payroll is already mandatory for those businesses with 20 or more employees. The senate has recently passed legislation to extend reporting requirements to those Employers employing 19 people or less and this will be rolled out in stages from 1 July 2019. There is a three-month transition period so you can start reporting any time from 1 July – 30 September
If your system is already automated with reports that can provide the information listed above for every pay cycle, all you need to do is confirm if your product is STP compliant. However, if your system is still manual it is now time to discuss and review your internal processes.
The ATO is aware that this is a concern for small businesses and has a list of digital service providers which will offer a simple low cost solution for those businesses with less than 5 employees. Assistant Commissioner and STP lead at the Australian Taxation Office, John Shepherd says, “you won’t need to buy payroll software, if you are a micro business. We’re working on something that’s fit for purpose, like an app, to get the STP information in but is also easy to use, doesn’t take much time and doesn’t cost micro businesses extra.”
Our advice to business owners there is no need to panic, it will all fall into place. We suggest however that you should start giving it some thought now and make contact with us to discuss your payroll solutions.
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