If you employ more than 20 people, Single Touch Payroll reporting is coming from 1 July 2018.
What does this mean?
It is a change in how you must report your payments such as salaries and wages, pay as you go (PAYG) withholding and superannuation information each time you pay your employees.
Employees will now be able to access their payment and super information online through their My Gov account.
How do I know if I am required to report using single touch payroll reporting?
To determine the number of employees you have and if it applies to you, you need to count the number of employees you have as at 1 April 2018. This is all employees, whether they be part time, full time or casual each person is counted as 1 employee. You do not need to send this headcount to the ATO, it is just for your information. If you have 20 or more employees on this day, single touch payroll reporting will apply to you.
How do I comply?
If you are currently using Xero to process your wages they are ready for the change and you do not need to do anything.
If you are currently using MYOB you will need to ensure you upgrade your subscription to the latest version being 2017.2. Once you have upgraded to the latest version you will need to ensure you are using AccountRight Live. For help with moving to the live version, click here.
Although most software providers are ready for this change, there are a few that have asked for more time to get ready. Employers should contact their provider to determine if a deferral has been granted until the software is ready or alternatively if the software does not comply or has not been given a deferral you will need to look for an alternative solution.
If you don’t have software, you will need to choose a product that offers single touch payroll. You can ask your tax or BAS agent for advice on choosing a product that suits your business needs.
Single Touch Payroll will be expanded to include employers with 19 or less employees from 1 July 2019. This is subject to legislation being passed in parliament.
To find out more get in touch with us or click here.
By Kym Nitschke, Managing Partner
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