SINGLE TOUCH PAYROLL (STP) CHANGES FROM 1st JULY 2018

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March 26, 2018
ARE YOU EMPLOYING 20 OR MORE EMPLOYEES?
MAJOR CHANGES TO YOUR REPORTING STARTING FROM 1 JULY 2018
 
Single Touch Payroll (STP) is a reporting regime whereby your payroll software reports directly to the Australian Taxation Office. Each pay period, the details of each employees gross payments, tax and superannuation will be provided electronically to the ATO. The current BAS reporting only provides total gross wages and tax withheld. The information is not currently provided to the ATO on a per employee basis. This all changes from 1 July, 2018.
 
Starting from 1 July, 2018 employers with 20 or more employees will be caught by the Single Touch Payroll regime, however from 1 July 2019 all employers will be required to report using STP.
 
What if you have 15 employees this month but last month you had 22 employees?
The relevant date to ascertain whether you have 20 employees is 1 April 2018 (that’s right …. April Fools Day and Easter Sunday!)
On the 1 April 2018 you need to do a headcount of your employees. If you have 20 or more you will be require to use STP from 1 July 2018.
 
If you are unsure about what constitutes an employee, here is a quick snapshot.
It Includes :
·         Full time employees
·         Part time employees
·         Casual employees who are on the payroll on 1 April and worked any time during March
·         Employees based overseas
·         Any employee absent or on leave (paid or unpaid)
·         Seasonal employees (staff who are engaged short term to meet a regular peak workload, eg harvest workers).
 
Does not include :
·         Any employees who ceased work before 1 April
·         Casual employees who did not work in March
·         Independent contractors
·         Staff provided by a third party labour hire organisation
·         Company Directors
·         Office holders
·         Religious Practitioners
 
If, based on the headcount on 1 April, you are required to report under the STP regime, you should immediately contact your software provider to ensure that they are compliant. Some software providers have a deferred start date. You may need to update your software or consider changing your payroll system to ensure compliance. Check what support your software company can offer and subscribe to their communications (email, newsletters etc.). We have contacted Xero, MYOB & Quickbooks to check their progress with STP. Xero expect to be ready by mid June 2018. Their clients will be taken through a quick Wizard setup that will take about 5 minutes. The STP will sit behind their existing payroll function with very little change to the look and feel. There will be no additional cost. We will keep you posted regarding MYOB & Quickbooks progress.
 
The ATO also have information on STP. You can find this information at :
·         Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ato.gov.au)
·         Twitter (https://twitter.com/ato_gov_au)
 
The ATO may grant deferrals or exemptions but this will only be where there are extenuation circumstances.
 
Please do not hesitate to contact your consultant at our office if you need some advice regarding the transition to STP.
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