Single Touch Payroll (STP) has been with us for nearly two and a half years as the ATO rolled it out in various stages. Some businesses have already met their STP obligations whilst others have been under an exemption, which will end on 1 July 2021.
What does this deadline mean for you and your business?
• For those businesses who are already meeting their STP obligations, nothing. Just keep reporting as usual
• If your business has been under an exemption you will need to meet your obligations from 1 July 2021.
Who will be most affected by the 1 July 2021 deadline?
• If you have 19 employees or less and to date have not been reporting your closely held employees
• Small employers with only closely held employees
• Not for profit clubs and associations
• Some micro and seasonal employers.
What does closely held mean?
According to the ATO, a closely held employee or payee is someone that is directly related to the entity from which they receive payments from. This could be a beneficiary of a trust fund, or your mother-in-law, a sister, cousin or great uncle. Every family member on your books is a closely held employee.
How do I report for my closely held employees?
There are three key reporting options that you can choose from:
• Report and process a payroll through STP on or before your closely held employees “payday.”
• Calculate and report the accurate payroll amount through STP once only in the quarter on or before the BAS due date for that quarter.
• Report a reasonable estimate (penalties can be imposed if grossly underreported) once each quarter on or before the BAS due date for the quarter.
For those who are wanting to process and report through STP we have payroll only software options available, or, let one of our STP specialists know your current software provider and the version you are running, and we can let you know if there is an add on available.
There is no one size fits all solution and whatever the solution you decide on will depend greatly on what works best for you and your business. More information can be found here at the ATO STP for Closely Held Employees
How can Accura help?
For our existing clients, please call your Accountant or Bookkeeper if you are unsure of any changes that you believe you will need to make. If you know someone that may need assistance or advice to be Single Touch Payroll ready and compliant, please pass our details on.
If you are not a current client but need to be STP ready, please call us on 9387 0000 to speak to our STP specialist. After a quick chat they can complete a classification assessment to figure out what category best suits your business.
The 1 July 2021 Single touch payroll changes are designed to transition you and your business to a more streamlined reporting protocol to provide Government Agencies that you may have had to report to individually in the past, all the same information you would have reported to them directly on one lodgment platform. You can count on the team at Accura to support you through this new and evolving ATO initiative.
