Parliament passed legislation on 12 February to extend Single Touch Payroll (STP) reporting to include all small employers (those with fewer than 20 employees) from 1 July 2019.
STP is pay day reporting by employers to the ATO as it happens. This reporting already started on 1 July 2018 for large employers (20 or more employees).
This is a big change and will generally be much easier to comply with if using some kind of accounting or payroll software.
The ATO Commissioner Chris Jordan has announced that the ATO wants to help with the transition and has outlined the following :
“The ATO will offer micro employers (1 to 4 employees) help to transition to STP and a number of alternative options – such as allowing those who rely on a registered tax or BAS agent to report quarterly for the first two years, rather than each time payroll is run.
Small employers can start reporting any time from the 1 July start date to 30 September 2019. We will grant deferrals to any small employer who requests additional time to start STP reporting.
There will be no penalties for mistakes, missed or late reports for the first year.
We will provide exemptions from STP reporting for employers experiencing hardship, or in areas with intermittent or no internet connection.”
For more information please contact our office.