Are you ready for Single Touch Payroll? Sure, you have heard it spoken about, heard the name passed around, but do you know what it is and what you have to do?
For years employers have been used to the idea that they keep records for the whole year, and come 30 June each year, they have two weeks to report to the ATO the total annual wages for all staff, which then allows their staff to complete their annual tax return … but not any more. Advances in technology mean that now wages will be reported to the ATO on a real time basis, as they are paid to your staff.
If you do nothing else, at very least TODAY COUNT YOUR STAFF. This will tell you if you have to act now, or if you can wait another year. Make no mistake, this will impact all employers, smaller employers just have an additional one year grace period.
1 April 2018
- Employers need to do a headcount of the employees they have on their payroll on 1 April.
- Check ATO guidelines on how to count your employees ato.gov.au/stp
1 July 2018
- Single Touch Payroll reporting starts for employers who have 20 or more employees.
1 July 2019
- Employers with 19 or less employees will start reporting through Single Touch Payroll
You may find the following ATO resources of use: