Single Touch Payroll (STP) is an initiative from the ATO to report tax and superannuation information each time you run your payroll and pay your employees. This is the most significant change to business reporting since the introduction of GST back in 2000.
Currently employers with 20 or more employees started using STP from July 1st 2018. If you have 19 employees or less you must start using STP from July 1, 2019, except in the following circumstances:
- If you have 1-4 employees and they are all closely held employees (then you will be required to start STP from 1 July 2020 and will be reportable at the same time as your quarterly BAS).
A closely held employee is one who is not at arm’s length. This means they are directly related to the entity from which they receive payments for example:
- family members of a family business
- directors or shareholders of a company
- beneficiaries of a trust
For more information on STP closely held employees please click on the link below:
https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Bus/Single-Touch-Payroll-for-closely-held-employees-factsheet/
If you are currently use accounting software to run your business, chances are it will be STP compliant but please check to ensure it is.
However if you currently don’t use an electronic payroll solution you will need to choose a software provider to be STP compliant. Xero have released a special STP payroll only plan for micro employers that have 1-4 employees which costs $10 per month. This can be a standalone product or you can add it to your existing Xero Cashbook.
As we are Xero payroll certified we can take care of setting up STP for you so please contact us for more information.
The ATO also has a list of low/no cost software providers you can access below but please be aware we are not able to support or advise on these solutions:
https://www.ato.gov.au/business/single-touch-payroll/in-detail/low-cost-single-touch-payroll-solutions/
