Single Touch Payroll Update Mar-19
Understanding STP obligations Single Touch Payroll (‘STP’) is a Government initiative aimed at cutting red tape for employers and improving visibility of compliance with business obligations such as: salary and wages and similar payments; Pay As You Go (‘PAYG’) withholding; and certain superannuation related information; by requiring ‘real time’ reporting of payroll information directly to […]
Transition to Single Touch Payroll for small employers
Statement from Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan about transition to Single Touch Payroll for small employers Parliament has now passed legislation 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 […]
Single Touch Payroll for all employers
From 29 Jan the ATO will write to small employers with <19 employees that already use payroll software. You will be told about Single Touch Payroll (STP), and reminded that you don’t need to wait for legislation to pass to start reporting through STP. If your payroll software offers STP you can update your software […]
Summary of single touch payroll
What is single touch payroll and how will it affect your business? Single touch payroll is a new regulation that changes when and how small businesses report payroll activity to the Australian Tax Office (ATO). Businesses used to report this information to the ATO once a year. Now, they need to send a report after […]
Christmas Parties & Gifts 2018
Year-end (and other) staff parties With the well earned December/January holiday season on the way, many employers will be planning to reward staff with a celebratory party or event. However, there are important issues to consider, including the possible FBT and income tax implications of providing ‘entertainment’ (including Christmas parties) to staff and clients. FBT […]
Superannuation guarantee
Employer super quick check Paying super is an important part of being an employer. Super provides income for your workers in retirement. Here’s how to run a quick check of your super obligations to make sure you’ve got everything sorted: Check you’re paying super to all eligible workers. Some contractors may be entitled to super. […]
Single Touch Payroll
Proposed expansion of STP to smaller employers Single Touch Payroll (‘STP’) commenced on 1 July 2018 for approximately 73,000 employers who have 20 or more employees. There is currently legislation before Parliament to expand STP to all employers from 1 July 2019 and it is estimated that there will be more than 700,000 employers who […]
Home office expense claims
Increased scrutiny of home office claims Last year, 6.7 million taxpayers claimed a record $7.9 billion in deductions for ‘other work-related expenses’, which includes home office expenses. Reportedly, due to a high number of mistakes, errors and questionable claims for home office expenses, the ATO has recently advised that it will be increasing attention, scrutiny […]
Super Guarantee (SG) Amnesty
SG Amnesty still pending The proposed superannuation guarantee (SG) amnesty is a one-off, 12-month opportunity to self-correct past non-compliance (i.e., from 24 May 2018 to 23 May 2019). It will apply to previously undeclared SG shortfalls for any period from 1 July 1992 up to 31 March 2018. The ‘carrot’ currently on the table is […]
Small Business Superannuation Clearing House
Ensure correct SBSCH information When employers use the Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (SBSCH), it is important to enter the correct information. Providing the correct information reduces the possibility that a super fund will reject the payment. When super funds return payments to the ATO due to incorrect details they must manually intervene and contact the employer […]
