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“Biggest compliance undertaking since GST”: Everything you need to know about the new single touch payroll laws

By Administrator | 11 December 2018

Legislation to extend single touch payroll (STP) reporting to businesses with less than 19 employees passed the Senate on Wednesday.

The changes were expected to get through, but their passage through the Senate brings the reality of STP reporting for Australia’s smallest businesses to the fore.

Businesses will technically be required to be complying with STP reporting by July 1, 2019, which gives hundreds of thousands of businesses just over seven months to get on board.

Here’s everything you need to know about what’s going on.

What is single touch payroll?


Single touch payroll is also called real-time payroll reporting — because it means every time a business pays their workers, all salary information is sent to the ATO.

This includes wages, deductions and super information, eliminating the need for Pay-As-You-Go withholding activity statements throughout the year.

This real-time reporting is generally done through accounting software platforms such as MYOB, Xero or Quickbooks. In fact, this is so prevalent the ATO’s own explainer on the regime repeatedly advises businesses to talk to their third-party software providers.

Don’t use digital payroll? Keep reading, you aren’t the only one. Read morehttps://www.smartcompany.com.au/finance/tax/new-single-touch-payroll-laws/

Matthew Elmas - SmartCompany - 7 Dec 2018

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