Prepare for Finalising 2019 in Single Touch Payroll

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If you are already reporting Single Touch Payroll (STP) to the ATO, there is a different process for issuing payment summaries from now on.

Employers must provide payment summaries to employees by 14 July. In the STP reporting system, employers must make a finalisation declaration by this date, in order that the employee’s information will be released in their myGov account and listed as ‘tax ready’.This replaces the need to issue payment summaries. However, if you are unable to make a finalisation declaration by 14 July, you still need to issue payment summaries to employees by other means by the due date.

The ATO is offering additional time up to 31 July 2019 to make the finalisation declaration for employers who have started STP during the 2019 financial year.

STP Payroll Checklist

Be efficient and prepare as much as you can now, by checking the following:

  • Check that your business details, including ABN, registered name and address and authorised contact person are correct in your software.
  • You should already have all the necessary details for all employees, both current and any who have terminated throughout the year if you are using STP. The essential information is full name, date of birth, address and tax file number.
  • Review any terminated employees. Is the correct termination date recorded in your software? Are there any Employment Termination Payments (ETPs)?
  • Review salary sacrifice payments to superannuation for Reportable Employer Superannuation Contributions (RESC) amounts.
  • Check with us for any Reportable Fringe Benefit Tax (RFBT) amounts that should be included.
  • Check that all payroll categories are assigned to the correct ATO reporting category. This includes all ordinary earnings, loadings and penalties, allowances, commissions, bonuses, leave payments and termination payments. You may have other unusual payroll categories—check that you have linked them correctly.

Finalising Single Touch Payroll

It’s important to verify payroll figures before finalising, in order to minimise the chance of errors and having to re-issue at a later date.Once the payroll year is completed at 30 June, you can then analyse the payroll amounts for each employee and cross-check against the numbers in your profit and loss accounts.

Talk to us about making the STP end of year process easier by reviewing and validating your payroll figures prior to finalising the data and lodging with the ATO. The end of the payroll year will be here sooner than you think!