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Single Touch Payroll is Coming - 9th May 2017

Single Touch Payroll is a government initiative to further streamline business reporting obligations between businesses and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). 

Employers will be able to report salary or wages, pay as you go (PAYG) withholding and super information to the ATO from their payroll software at the same time they pay their employees

There will also be more options for completing tax and super forms online. Employers with 20 or more employees must start reporting through Single Touch Payroll from 1 July 2018.

Employers - What you need to do


Employers of more than 20 employees will need to do a headcount on 1 April 2018. If you have 20 or more employees on that date, you will need to report through payroll software that enables Single Touch Payroll from 1 July 2018.

In addition to reporting your employee's pay details live, when you pay your employees' super guarantee contributions to the funds, you will send the ATO the same details that you send to your super fund.

When you report through Single Touch Payroll you won't be required to provide employees with a Payment Summary at the end of financial year. 

You will need to finalise your Single Touch Payroll reporting and notify the ATO by 14 July each year.

The ATO will then make payroll information available to employees and their tax agents through the ATO Online services.  For those that lodge their returns through MyGov, the ATO will pre-fill each employee's tax return.

The software companies are currently in the process of updating their software requirements to meet the ATO's requirements and deadlines.

Once updated your software will give you the option to invite your employees to complete their tax file number (TFN) declaration and superannuation standard choice forms online.

At this stage there is no indication that the same requirements will be imposed on Employers that employ under 20 employees. 

Key dates to remember


1 April 2018

If you have a headcount of 20 or more employees, you will need to report through Single Touch Payroll.

1 July 2018

Employers with 20 or more employees as at 1 April 2018 will need to start reporting through Single Touch Payroll.

You can adopt Single Touch Payroll earlier if you prefer and if your software is ready to do so, but at this stage we are recommending to our clients to be ready by 01 July 2018, and report from then. 

If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact our office or find out more here: https://www.ato.gov.au/about-ato/about-us/in-detail/strategic-direction/streamlined-reporting-with-single-touch-payroll/


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