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From 1 July 2018, ATO has enforced a new legislation on the payroll reporting system. The new legislation requests business with 20 or more employees to use the Single Touch Payroll (STP) enabled software to report employees’ payroll information including superannuation. Business with less than 20 employees has to implement Single Touch Payroll system too by 1 July 2019 (this hasn’t been lawed yet). Under the new Single Touch Payroll reporting system, payroll information will be instantly sent to ATO at each pay run.
20 Employees Definition:
The number of employee needs to be counted on the date of 1 April every year for the 20 employees purpose. If the employer misses out the date, they still can back date to count the number of the employees as the date of 1 April.
Employees you should include into the headcount:
  • full-time employees
  • part-time employees
  • casual employees and seasonal workers who were on your payroll on 1 April and worked any time during March – there are exemptions to counting seasonal workers who were employed for a short time only
  • employees based overseas
  • any employee absent or on leave (paid or unpaid).
Employees you should not include into the headcount:
  • 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.
What it affects the employer:
  • Need to upgrade their payroll software to have the Single Touch Payroll function
  • No need to provide employees payment summary and submit PAYG withholding payment summary annual report to ATO
  • Automatically get the new employee tax file number and superannuation details through existing Single Touch Payroll reporting system
  • PAYG tax withheld information will be prefilled on the Business Activity Statement or Instalment Activity Statement.
What is affects the employee:
  • Can review the payroll information such as gross payment, PAYG withholding, super payment, etc instantly in Mygov account
  • May not receive the payment summary from employer anymore as it wll shows in Mygov account too
  • No need to provide tax file number and superannuation details to employer anymore.

Need Help?

If you are unsure whether Single Touch Payroll applies to your business, or whether your payroll software is ready to report each pay run, Pitt Martin Group can help you review and document your employee headcount, weigh up software, setup and reporting, and prepare for the STP obligations that will apply to you.

As Sydney tax accountants, we assist employers with STP software setup, payroll processing and practical compliance advice.

Pitt Martin Group is a firm of Chartered Accountants, providing services including taxation, accounting, business consulting, self-managed superannuation funds, auditing and mortgage & finance. We spend hundreds of hours each year on training and researching new tax laws to ensure our clients can maximize legitimate tax benefit. Our contact information are phone +61292213345 or email info@pittmartingroup.com.au. Pitt Martin Group, Sydney tax accountants, is located in the convenient transportation hub of Sydney’s central business district. Our honours include the 2018 CPA NSW President’s Award for Excellence, the 2020 Australian Small Business Champion Award Finalist, the 2021 Australia’s well-known media ‘Accountants Daily’ the Accounting Firm of the Year Award Finalist and the 2022 Start-up Firm of the Year Award Finalist, and the 2023 Hong Kong-Australia Business Association Business Award Finalist.

Pitt Martin Group qualifications include over fifteen years of professional experience in accounting industry, Registered Australia Tax Agents, membership certification of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ), certified External Examiner of the Law Societies of New South Wales, Victoria, and Western Australia Law Trust Accounts, membership certification of the Finance Brokers Association of Australia Limited (FBAA), Registered Agents of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), certified Advisor of accounting software such as XERO, QUICKBOOKS, MYOB, etc.

This content is for reference only and does not constitute advice on any individual or group’s specific situation. Any individual or group should take action only after consulting with professionals. Due to the timeliness of tax laws, we have endeavoured to provide timely and accurate information at the time of publication, but cannot guarantee that the content stated will remain applicable in the future. Please indicate the source when forwarding this content.