All Single Touch Payroll posts

Re: Why won't the ATO provide an STP facility in the Business Porta"

jamie11 — Wed, 26 Feb 2020 04:06:33 GMT

And you didn't answer the question as to why the ATO can't provide a "simple" STP lodgement facility in the business portal. What better way to accurately report on payroll and super directly to the ATO - rather than going through the tribulations and privacy risks of using 3rd party providers in the cloud (whom the ATO register but don't indemnify against any privacy breaches). It would take 2 weeks to code and test STP, it would not cannibalise software producers and tax agents from providing their existing bookeeping services, and it would keep many businesses happy, to the extent that it met minimum STP reporting requirements. Its a win-win and something that should have been provided from the start.

As a side, the Small Business Super payments facility also needs some work, you can't have multiple super payments pending at the same time, something about your system getting confused. This means we wait 1 week for each super payment to clear before making another one, which is laboriously painful. A quick fix to this would be to included a reference number for each super payment, then you could have multiple at a time, simples! This is simple business analysis that should have been included in the initial system specification.

Re: Why won't the ATO provide an STP facility in the Business Porta"

jamie11 — Wed, 26 Feb 2020 03:58:11 GMT

Thank you,

You are joking right? On one hand you say you don't want to create additional reporting requirements, then you go on to admit than many micro businesses don't have payroll systems so they will now have to signup for "cloud" payroll systems just to comply with STP. The ATO even made last minute changes to offer quarterly STP reporting for some businesses, given the outcry from the public. The whole thing is a shambles. Your consultation with tax agents, software developers and small business obviously involved industry representative, who don't represent me as a small business owner, but look after their own commercial interests in providing software and services.

If you take some of the feedback from farmers and small businesses on this forum as representative of about 2 million small and micro businesses, you will realise that STP is far from simple and effortless and badly conveived from the start. Asking businesses to go from reporting BAS/IAS quaterly to reporting STP's each payday is ludicrous and one wonders what planet you're from if you think this involves less compliance. Our objective is to have less dealings with government and less compliance work in order to have time working on our businesses, instead we are bogged down in ever increasing ATO compliance not to mention state government and local council requirements.

In addition, with Auskey being retired for the horrendous MyGovID at the same time as STP comes in, you are just stressing out businesses even more. Have a look how the New Zealand government handled their Real ID (with a simple login) and compare it to the ever changing ATO list of authentication products (ECI/Auskey/MyGovID) and you realise how badly the ATO have handled the whole thing. I'm not sure if it's lack of internal knowledge or the too quick to outsource mentality, but the ATO have a lot of catching up to do to make compliance seamless.

Re: Why won't the ATO provide an STP facility in the Business Porta"

JasonLucchese — Wed, 26 Feb 2020 01:57:25 GMT

Thank you for your feedback, it’s always important for us to hear from the community on how STP impacts various businesses.

When we designed STP, we wanted to integrate the reporting as much as possible into existing payroll processes rather than create additional reporting processes through portals or clearing houses. We knew a large portion of businesses already utilised payroll software and after an upgrade, they would be able to complete their STP reporting as part of their existing payroll process.

We also acknowledged there are small businesses who wouldn’t be using payroll software and after consulting with small businesses, tax agents and software developers, we supported the market to create free and low cost software options to allow this segment of the community to access reporting options that were affordable and simple. If you don’t already have a reporting solution, here is the information and the list of free or low cost software options.

Security of data is always important to the ATO. Software developers must meet strict security requirements to be able to transit STP data from employers to the ATO. Software products are tested with the ATO before they are able to put their software out into the market.

Please keep posting your questions here on ATO Community and we will be happy to respond.

Re: Why won't the ATO provide an STP facility in the Business Porta"

TaxedoMask — Wed, 26 Feb 2020 00:10:15 GMT

Forgive my cynical views but with an ex-head of Products at Accenture as CIO at the ATO, I feel that there is little drive to develop within the ATO, rather it's about passing consulting contracts to firms like Accenture (see here).This is why you do not see anything that's remotely close to in-house development or best practices).

On the flip side , there are more and more tools for businesses which are both inexpensive and fairly robust (Xero generally comes to mind). These have the benefit of being regularly updated and maintained which should contribute to increase in accruacy in the information passed onto the ATO.

Whilst it is hardly comforting in your circumstances, the changes should result in a broad improvement to tax reporting and data-matching. I guess its a net benefit to society at large. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Re: STP submission is taking too long

KylieS — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 22:53:57 GMT

Hi ,

The design of each solution is up to the provider. We do understand that it may take time to find a solution that is suited to your business, for this reason the ATO offers a number of support options such as;

If there are special circumstances affecting your ability to regularly report on, or before, pay day, you can apply for a recurring deferral. This deferral allows you additional time to lodge each STP report without penalty for late lodgement, or
If you need time to transition to a new product and won’t be able to report for a period of time, you can apply for an operational deferral.

You can apply for these deferral types through the Business Portal – select ‘Manage employees’ then ‘STP deferrals or exemptions’.

You can also use the business numbers to contact us if you are unable to lodge a portal request.

KylieS

Why won't the ATO provide an STP facility in the Business Porta"

jamie10 — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 09:47:08 GMT

Why does the ATO refuse to provide a simple STP lodgement facility in the Business Portal? Currently you provide Super Payments for micro businesses, but refuse to provide an STP facility. If STP is as simple as you claim, then it should take roughly 2 weeks for you to code and test it. We've been waiting 3 years now and the ATO still refuse to provide this simple facility. Small businesses must now trust 3rd party payroll and STP providers of unknown origin, storing personal details on their cloud somewhere. Its amazing how many overseas software providers have popped up as a result on STP being introduced.

Amongst all the other compliance requirements for small business, it seems the ATO and government are intent on driving small operators out of business, while creating more bookeeping jobs in larger business. This is a false economy, driven by artificial production just to meet some legislative compliance. The STP does NOT make things simple for business, it is a measure to punish 99% of businesses who do the right thing.

Re: Super Liability Reporting - Does the amount requires to follow Maximum super contribution base?

ChrisR — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 05:09:03 GMT

Thanks for your post.

Super guarantee (SG) doesn't have to be paid on earnings above a certain limit. This limit is called the maximum contribution base. For more information about the maximum contribution base, check out our website.

Employers don't have to adhere to this limit. In fact, some awards and agreements require employers to continue paying super on earnings above this limit. In addition to this, some workplaces pay super at a higher rate than 9.5%.

This means that depending on how much they earn, some employees may exceed the concessional contributions cap and be liable for extra tax. For more information about this, have a look at the concessional contributions page.

For example, if an employee is paid super at a rate of 12% on quarterly earnings of $60,000, they will be paid $7,200. Assuming that the same amount is paid for all four quarters of the financial year, the total will exceed the cap by $3,800.

While there is now an option for high income earners to opt out of SG, this is only available to employees who have more than one employer. You can find out more about the super guarantee opt out on our website.

Depending on why the employer is paying super above the limit and/or above the minimum rate, the employee may be able to ask their employer to change how much super is being paid.

It is important to note that whether someone exceeds the concessional contributions cap isn't based on what an employer reports via STP. We will determine how much the concessional contributions are in accordance with the contributions reported by the super fund/s.

For more information about the rules of reporting through Single Touch Payroll and what super amounts an employer needs to report, refer to our website.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,

ChrisR

Re: Incomplete STP

KylieS — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 02:23:42 GMT

Hi @Kal-HerEn,@NuriDocs , @jcollins @BronMck ,

Thanks for your patience.

We have been advised by the STP area that if you believe you have finalised all your 2019 employees no further action is required.

If you are unsure, please submit an update event and include all employees that were reported through STP for the 2019 FY.

This includes employees that may have ceased employment throughout the year or not been paid in your last pay event for the 2019 FY.

If you are unable to submit an update event please contact your software provider for instructions or for further assistance contact us and request your details be escalated to the STP Client Engagement Team.

KylieS

Re: Going away

ChrisR — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 02:02:12 GMT

Thanks for your post.

You can find the answer to your question in the following thread: STP - Payments over holidays

You can also check out the options for businesses shutting during December and January news item in the Single Touch Payroll section of our website.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,

ChrisR

Re: STP lodging and editing

RodrigoP — Mon, 24 Feb 2020 01:38:18 GMT

Hi@ DBI

Thanks for your question. Its quite common there are lodgment errors pop up on review, refer ATO QC 49409 general errors. Correct all errors as per the schedule before lodging again.

Hope this helps.

Thanks.

RodrigoP

STP lodging and editing

DB1 — Sat, 22 Feb 2020 00:15:22 GMT

STP

I have lodged, but on review, have found some errors.

How do I edit and relodge batches?

Super Liability Reporting - Does the amount requires to follow Maximum super contribution base?

Timothy — Fri, 21 Feb 2020 07:06:18 GMT

Hi there,

My employer had been going through some hard time on getting the guidance for the Super liability reporting. Based on ATO Website guide, it mention that company requires to report 9.5% or higher contribution if company does provide.

However, will this cause employee need to pay more tax if the amount report is higher than usual? My employer did provide benefit of paying superannuation with rates higher than 9.5%. For example, quarterly super contribution for FY2019 - 2020 is $5250.65 ($55,270*9.5%). If employer offer employee 12% for their superannuation and it reach capping, should i report the capping 5250.65 or report higher amount?

Im afraid of giving employee hard time that they getting warning to need pay more tax if my employer wish report the higher amount in super liability section of report.

Thanks
Timothy

Re: STP submission is taking too long

KylieS — Fri, 21 Feb 2020 02:14:56 GMT

Understand that this would be frustrating, we will check with the our technical area to see if we have any solutions or ideas.

KylieS

Re: Incomplete STP

KylieS — Thu, 20 Feb 2020 22:04:33 GMT

Hi , , ,

We will also check this out and see if we can find any information.

KylieS

Re: Incomplete STP

jcollins — Thu, 20 Feb 2020 04:38:33 GMT

I've received the same email. I tried the live chat but they were unable to help and told me to call

Going away

holidaymode — Thu, 20 Feb 2020 03:24:33 GMT

Our business will be unatended for 5 weeks whilst we have a break. We will not have acces to a computer to report our STP. Can i backdate the dates and send them off to the ATO when we return from our vacation ? I shall be setting up auto weekly wages whilst we are gone.

Re: Incomplete STP

Kal-HerEn — Wed, 19 Feb 2020 01:38:59 GMT

Hi BronMcK,

I called ATO and they now have tech department looking into it.

Frustrating but I guess its the first year of STP so there will be teething problems. Hopefully you get yours resolved also.

Regards

Re: Incomplete STP

Kal-HerEn — Wed, 19 Feb 2020 01:35:25 GMT

Thanks Jason,

I called ATO back and went through all the finer details with them. They are at a loss also. They have sent it to tech department and I am awaiting a call back in regards to how to fix this.

Thanks for your response.

Regards

wrote:
Hi ,

I don't have confirmation that any of the Incomplete Single Touch payroll Finalisation emails issued were in error.

The employers who should receive the email have taken actions to finalise STP data but have a portion of employees un-finalised.
End-of-year finalisation through STP
If you're able to identify the employees that haven't been finalised lodge an update event for only those employees to finalise the records.

If you're unable to identify which employees are un-finalised we have a live chat service to save you from having to call.

Hope this helps,
JasonT

Re: Incomplete STP

BronMck — Wed, 19 Feb 2020 01:03:55 GMT

I have the same email and the same date as well...mine have all been finalised also...Really don't know where to go with this?

Glad I found this thread...knowing I am not alone makes me feel a little better...so frustrating though.

Re: Unwilling and not able to comply to STP

NateH — Wed, 19 Feb 2020 01:02:11 GMT

Hi ,

We tried to get in contact with you yesterday but didn't have any luck, we'll try again today.

Thanks, NateH

Re: PAYG Summary submitted twice to ATO for same financial year

Nybor — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 20:25:21 GMT

Thanks for your help DuncanS. I did ring the ATO and all is fixed.

STP submission is taking too long

ControlD — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 06:38:15 GMT

Hi All,

Since the introduction of Single Touch Payroll the time spent on meeting the compliance requirements is significant for me on SAASU. This is just in running the submission, especially in waiting for submissions to process which appear to take at times hours. The system will not easily allow batching of employees either, especially if they are on different pay times, rates and methods (e.g. staff versus casual versus hourly trades etc). This leads to multiple submissions needed. It appears to me the STP would be helpful for large business to save time in compliance but is the opposite for small business. For us it is a time drain and a big step backwards - a big kick for small business. Are there any solutions to speed up the submission process? Also the rules say submission needs to be in advance or on the payment date. This is near impossible to achieve. When is the system going to be fit for purpose, faster and offer time savings on complance?

Thank you - Michael.

Re: Single Touch Payroll report HECS debt

THop — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 04:49:57 GMT

Thanks Chris, I'm clarifying this with my employer now. I really appreciate both you and Jason providing such helpful information! The links were great and have given me much more confidence in relation to my tax position.

Re: Payroll

JasonT — Mon, 17 Feb 2020 22:45:06 GMT

Hi ,

Sorry to hear of your frustration in setting up your client for STP.

WPN holders are exempt from reporting through STP for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 financial years. This is a class exemption and there's no need to lodge an exemption application.

WPN holders can voluntarily commence STP reporting, however this can only be done by using a Sending service provider (SSP)

Using a SSP to meet STP reporting obligations

I hope this helps and let us know if you have any further questions,

JasonT

Re: Delays in STP Submissions due to System outages & Ugrades

JasonT — Mon, 17 Feb 2020 22:26:20 GMT

Hi @ Ruth_,

You can delay reporting due to the server upgrade. Once the server upgrade is completed lodge your STP for the pay cycle and manually adjust the Year to Date (YTD) figures to include the pays that were missed

Correcting a pay event report

If there are issues with your STP solution once your server upgrade is complete you may need to look at a different solution

No-cost and low-cost solutions for Single Touch Payroll

STP reporting can't be lodged via the Business Portal and at this point we have no indication that this will be a feature available in the future. My apologies for the inconvenience.

Thanks and let us know if you have any further questions,

JasonT

Re: PAYG Summary submitted twice to ATO for same financial year

ChrisR — Mon, 17 Feb 2020 02:13:51 GMT

Thanks for your post.

You do not need to lodge a payment summary annual report for amounts you report and finalise through STP.

You can find out how to lodge your payment summary annual report, or more importantly how to amend it on our website. The page provides guidance on how you can do it electronically or via the paper form.

As has correctly said, you can give us a call if you would like to discuss it further.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,

ChrisR

Re: PAYG Summary submitted twice to ATO for same financial year

DuncanS — Mon, 17 Feb 2020 01:20:32 GMT

I would obtain a copy of the employees Pre-Fill Report from the employee (at least the relevant part).

This would show the reported duplication of Salary.

Give the ATO a call and discuss as any errors should be fixed quickly.

Duncan

Re: Unwilling and not able to comply to STP

DuncanS — Mon, 17 Feb 2020 00:15:21 GMT

Matthew,

I was a ICB meeting towards the end of last year.

STP was talked about and I recall that one senior bookkeeper commented that more information is required from the ATO (my recollection was the comment was "we are running blind").

You comment not to agree the MYOB records to the ATO records.

If there are no errors/changes, why would this not be possible or required.

I still believe this to be a important step and am concerned that finalising Payment Summaries without reconciling to the ATO may be outside the Code of Professional Conduct.

STP is the first reporting to the ATO where I have used the accounting software - Same Day Reporting means a Bank Reconciliation and other checks/balances cannot be undertaken before reporting to the ATO.

Furthermore, STP and Same Day Reporting does not allow Agents extra time to lodge. Why?

Why would the ATO systems not be able to prepare a report with a total eg monthly/quarterly?

Why would the ATO systems not be able to prepare a Year to Date report?

Others have suggested that the ATO should have developed STP Reporting like the SBSCH.

One does wonder why this did not occur.

My clients have used accounting software for business decision making for nearly 20 years since GST.

Same Day Reporting for those businesses with a monthly or quarterly accounting cycle has a opportunity cost.

I did read that the New Zealand STP model excludes those employers with less than $50,000 in annual PAYG -W from PayDay Reporting. Why was this not considered in Australia?

Same Day Reporting requires the business owner to enter Payroll in the accounting system (not recommended) or a substantial increase in accounting/bookkeeping fees.

I do not have contact with Accountants who wish involvement with Same Day Reporting.

My belief is that MYOB may have had a Payroll issue around the 15/16 January 2020.

One does hope the ATO can improve their computer systems to have some usable STP reports.

Duncan

Re: Single Touch Payroll report HECS debt

ChrisR — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 05:45:47 GMT

Thanks for your reply.

You must start making compulsory repayments against your study or training support loan when your repayment income exceeds the minimum repayment threshold.

For more information about when you must repay your loan, check out our website.

Your employer is required to withhold an additional amount from your pay in preparation for when you submit your tax return. The amount that they are required to withhold depends on how much your pay is.

For example, if you are paid fortnightly and your gross (before-tax) payment amount is $3,000, assuming that you are claiming the tax-free threshold your employer will be required to withhold $862. This amount is based on tax of $712 plus an additional $150 due to your study and training loan debt.

You can find out how your employer determines these amounts by referring to the tax tables that JasonT has provided or you can use the tax withheld for individuals calculator. The calculator can be found on the tax withheld calculators page.

The study and training loan withholding amounts in the tax table and calculator are based on the study and training loan repayment thresholds and rates which you can look at on our website.

Using the same example, if you are paid $3,000 a fortnight, this works out to be $78,000 a year ($3,000 x 26). According to this year's repayment income thresholds and rates table, if your repayment income is $78,000, your repayment rate is 5%. This means that your compulsory repayment will be $3,900. Divide that by 26 and you get $150.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,

ChrisR

Re: Single Touch Payroll report HECS debt

ChrisR — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 04:54:13 GMT

Thanks for your question.

The short answer is yes. The additional amount that you are required to withhold from your employee's pay is part of your PAYG withholding obligations. You send it to us with the rest of your PAYG withholding payment.

For more information about PAYG withholding and payments to employees, have a look at our website.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,

ChrisR

Payroll

OnBalance — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 04:03:35 GMT

I have a client who runs payroll he does not have an ABN he has a WPN after many attempts I have not been able to set him up with single touch payroll will this ever be fixed?

Delays in STP Submissions due to System outages & Ugrades

Ruth_ — Wed, 12 Feb 2020 06:41:34 GMT

We are currently upgrading from SQL2008 to SQL2016 on a cloud based system but we have experienced a number of outages that have delayed our upgrade.

However, we have just been notified that as Microsoft are no longer supporting SQL2008 our Sage Micropay STP will not work and they do not have a work around. We do not have a tax agent or BAS agent to do this for us.

Q. Are we able to upload the file using the ATO Business portal or to submit any delayed STP once our Server is upgraded and the automated STP is woulding again?

Re: Single Touch Payroll report HECS debt

THop — Wed, 12 Feb 2020 03:47:34 GMT

Thanks Jason, that's great information!

When you say "Your employer needs to calculate the amount to withhold.", could you direct me to an ATO ruling or such that spells that out at all? My payroll said to me that they are unable to provide tax advice, which I understand, but if I'm enquiring about my HECS repayments after a remuneration increase (slight!) they should at least be able to confirm the amount that they have calculated to withhold rather than me directing them to withhold a certain amount?

Re: Incomplete STP

JasonT — Wed, 12 Feb 2020 02:26:58 GMT

Hi ,

I don't have confirmation that any of the Incomplete Single Touch payroll Finalisation emails issued were in error.

The employers who should receive the email have taken actions to finalise STP data but have a portion of employees un-finalised.

End-of-year finalisation through STP

If you're able to identify the employees that haven't been finalised lodge an update event for only those employees to finalise the records.

If you're unable to identify which employees are un-finalised we have a live chat service to save you from having to call.

Hope this helps,

JasonT

PAYG Summary submitted twice to ATO for same financial year

Nybor — Wed, 12 Feb 2020 02:22:25 GMT

An employee who is getting his tax done through an accountant has told us that his PAYG Summary has been reported twice for the same financial year. We did originally report the PAYG Summary on 30/6/19 the same way we have in previous years and then must have later reported the PAYG summary through single touch payroll. His accountant says the ATO will count his salary twice but we haven't had that trouble with any other of our employees. Is there a way to delete one of the PAYG summaries?

Re: Working Holiday Makers

JasonT — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 23:30:00 GMT

Hi @kmebek,

The STP categories for Working Holiday Makers are the same as other employees receiving a payment, such as salary and wages.

Gross payments= W1
Tax withheld= W2

What you need to report

You'll need to ensure the correct withholding is applied to the payments you make to Working Holiday Makers. Generally your payroll/ accounting software will automatically calculate the correct withholding based upon the employee information entered in to the software (residency status, WHM etc.)

Tax table for working holiday makers

See the below headings in the Tax table:

Table A: Working holiday makers income tax rates
Accounting software

Thanks for your question,

JasonT

Re: Single Touch Payroll report HECS debt

bunify — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 07:54:43 GMT

I’m going to be an employer so was wondering how it works and how it gets paid back to the ATO? Does it get included with the PAYG payments?

Re: Incomplete STP

Kal-HerEn — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 06:36:19 GMT

Hi,

I have been searching the community for others that may have a smiliar issue and found this thread so though I would ask here...

I received an email from ATO on 24/1/2020 stating I have only finalised some of the employees' 2018-19 end-of-financial-year information.

I have called ATO and have been advised that only 39 of my 53 employees have only been reported to the ATO via STP EOFY Finalisation.

I reconciled, double checking my figures and confirm that I sent my EOFY Finalisation through MYOB to the ATO in June 2019 and the report confirms the correct gross amount with a total of 53 employees. I was told by ATO that I needed to contact MYOB to find out where it has gone wrong and they can advise me how to fix it.

I have called MYOB and the lady advised me that ATO have sent the email out in error to many businesses. (She actually told me the date of the email before I told her, claiming that she has had numerous employers calling up querying the same email received by them).

We have checked and double checked and my report was correct and was sent from MYOB to ATO as the correct gross amounts and numbers of employees.

Could you please confirm whether this is in fact true and this email from ATO was sent out to businesses in error?

STP has been a change for all of us and I want it confirmed, one way or the other, whether I have reported correctly or I need to fix something.

Thanks in advance.

Re: Unwilling and not able to comply to STP

NateH — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 06:17:23 GMT

Hi ,

Thanks for getting in touch, what has said is correct. We’ve also checked in with our STP area and they have confirmed that there are no known issues currently.

Thanks, NateH

Re: Single Touch Payroll report HECS debt

JasonT — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 04:58:22 GMT

Hi ,

To expand on what advised I'll provide a little more detail.

When you commence a job you complete the TFN declaration. If you have a HELP (HECS) debt you are required to select Yes to question 10:

"Do you have a Higher Education Loan Program (HELP), VET Student Loan (VSL), Financial Supplement (FS), Student Start up Loan (SSL) or Trade Support Loan (TSL) debt?"

By selecting Yes your payer (employer) will withhold additional amounts to cover any compulsory repayment that may be raised on your notice of assessment.

Your HELP debt is not reported through STP and additional amounts withheld due to a HELP debt aren't apportioned. Your employer will report tax withheld (including additional amounts for HELP) through STP in line with your pay cycle.

Back when you applied for your HELP loan through your education provider (e.g. university) they sent us the HELP loan debt information. A HELP account was created on your ATO account to have the loan repaid through our tax system.

When you lodge your tax return we receive the full information regarding your income, tax withheld, deductions, offsets etc. From there we assess if there is a compulsory HELP repayment required and if there is we allocate the credit/ payment to your HELP account. If you've had a compulsory payment towards your HELP loan it will appear on your Notice of Assessment (NOA).

It is your employer's obligation to withhold the correct amount from your pay based upon what you have completed on the TFN declaration.

Most employers will use payroll or accounting software that automatically calculates the amount to withhold taking in to account if you've indicated you have a HELP loan debt, if you've claimed the tax-free threshold etc.

Here's links to the Fortnightly tax table and the Study and training support loans fortnightly tax table for reference.

Also Tax tables

Your employer needs to calculate the amount to withhold. It's not your responsibility to advise them. If you've completed the TFN declaration and indicated yes to having a HELP loan debt you've met your requirement.

I hope this helps,

JasonT

Re: PHONE ALLOAWANCE were does this sit in STP

JasonT — Mon, 10 Feb 2020 01:03:08 GMT

Hi ,

The phone allowance would be reported under "other" for STP. The car allowance under "car".

You would need to meet the rules to make a claim for the deduction/s and you can only claim the total expense you have incurred.

The basic rules to consider before making a claim for a deduction:

When the expense took place
who paid for the expense, and
if the expense was incurred in gaining or producing assessable income

Expenses that are both work related and private or domestic must be apportioned.

Car and travel expenses 2019

Thanks and let us know if you have any further questions,

JasonT

Re: Unwilling and not able to comply to STP

Matthew-at-ICB — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 23:24:23 GMT

Hi Duncan

the design of STP is that you do not reconcile to the ATO displayed information.

The source of truth is your payroll records.

Therefore do the things it looks like you are doing about making sure your records are right.

Then submit to the ATO.

The issue for me is whether the software is submitting the right information. Your software should be (and most of them do) give you a report of what is being sent.

Noting the ATO disclosed Gross Wages and Gross tax that they receive in a normal payevent submission is not necessarily the complete story due to any changes. it depends on the software.
It doesnt matter if the ATO has duplciation at this time, becuase the employee information is YTD, so the most current data is used for each employee.
The employer level totals are analysed by the ATO and they should be able to detect duplication.

So in our view, ensure your source of truth "the employers payroll records" are correct and then ensure your software is sending the right information. The ATO information is constantly updated based on what you send them. Dont try to reconcile the ATO figures

WWW.icb.org.au

Re: Settup up for STP with a Substituted Accounting Period

KylieS — Mon, 10 Feb 2020 01:44:52 GMT

Hi ,

STP requires the last pay event for a financial year to be marked as finalised (how this appears in payroll software differs and we can't provide advice on how to do this). This declaration allows for the employees income statements to be “Tax Ready” online in their myGov account. In this circumstance we would need you to contact your software provider for correct instructions on how to finalise their financial year.

Thanks

KylieS

Re: Unwilling and not able to comply to STP

DuncanS — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 00:39:17 GMT

Jason,

I wish to reconcile the Amounts recorded in the ATO Report "STP reporting".

There are no totals in the ATO Report.

A check since 2000 before lodging a BAS/IAS for W1 and W2 would to to agree the Payroll Activity (Summary) to the Balance Sheet (PAYG W Payable) and P&L (Wages/Super) in MYOB. The process would still apply if a business owner/accountant/ BAS Agent uses Xero/QBO or other software.

The Payroll Activity (Summary) has totals for Wages, Tax Withheld and Super.

It is a simple exercise to agree the totals in the Payroll Activity (Summary) to the Balance Sheet and P&L.

A further reconciliation step under STP is to reconcile the MYOB records to the Gross Payments and PAYGW in the ATO STP reporting Report. Why does the ATO not provide totals in the STP reporting Report?

I have posted this question on the MYOB Community Forum recently - one would hope that MYOB would be talking to the ATO about a solution.

Employers with larger with 20 or more employees had a commencement date of STP of 01 July 2018.

Some larger employers would now have been in STP for some 18 months (and at least some 6-12 months).

I understand that larger employers would not have issued Payment Summaries for FY19.

How did the larger employers/their BAS and Tax Agents finalise the Payroll in FY19 if one cannot agree the Payroll Records in the accounting software to the ATO STP reporting Report? Am I missing something?

Furthermore, I believe the ATO records in the STP reporting Report may have duplication for payroll reported to the ATO on the 15th or 16th January. Is the ATO aware of any issues?

Under STP, I stress the importance of the payroll information held by the ATO being correct. Please comment.

Duncan

Working Holiday Makers

kmebek — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 23:20:47 GMT

Hi,

What are the STP categories for WORKING HOLIDAY MAKERS, gross payments and tax please.

Cheers

Re: Unwilling and not able to comply to STP

Anna3 — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 06:03:13 GMT

Do you mean "Payroller"?

Re: Stp reporting

JasonT — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 05:53:39 GMT

Hi ,

Welcome to ATO Community, thanks for your question.

On the next pay run you'll just need to manually adjust the Year to Date (YTD) figures.

So report the next pay run with the gross and tax withheld that relate to the period (week, fortnight etc.) and manually update the YTD figures to include the previous pay run amounts.

This will ensure the YTD figures are up to date and you can continue to report the future pay runs without adjusting.

Thanks for getting in touch Gksa

JasonT

Re: Single Touch Payroll report HECS debt

THop — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 04:41:17 GMT

Hi Matthew

Could you please give me some more details on how this works?

"You withhold according to the withholding table (software should do this) having ticked the HECS debt box and it is withheld and the ATO do the rest"

Which software are you referring to? My employer says I need to advise them of the amount to withhold but I'm not 100% confident to make the calculation myself? Can you recommend something?

Thanks

Re: STP

ChrisR — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 23:16:52 GMT

Thanks for your question.

We understand that for various reasons not everyone will start using STP from the start of the financial year. In turn, we have a page on our website called transitioning to Single Touch Payroll that explains what you need to do.

As you will see when you click on the link, the first thing that we recommend you do is check out the information from your digital service provider (DSP). They will let you know which of the listed methods you should use.

Hope this helps.

Thanks, ChrisR

PHONE ALLOAWANCE were does this sit in STP

ChrisP — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 08:26:20 GMT

Hi There

I am working for a company that is paying an employee a set amount of $50 per week for a Phone "Allowance"

in the STP which heading does this fall under

travel
car
meals
laundry
transport
other.

and would it be determined as a "deductable expense"?

They are also being paid $75 per week as a blanket Car Allowance which I have determined as a "deductable expense"

because this would not cover all expenses incurred by the employee in running their car.

and this would sit in STP as Car

Thank you and looking forward the your response, this is a great source of valuable information in 'my" language

Chris P

Re: Settup up for STP with a Substituted Accounting Period

NateH — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 03:10:32 GMT

Hi ,

Doesn't look like our Community has been able to answer this for you, we'll send this off to one of our technical areas to get this clarified for you. We'll be in touch soon

Thanks, NateH

Re: Stp and business portal

MarkA — Tue, 04 Feb 2020 07:44:01 GMT

Thanks for the post and welcome!

Unfortunately I could not establish any guidance as to system delays currently impact STP so I would suggest if you are duly authorised to contact us so we can check if the pay events have actually been posted as your personal cross check in MyGov seems to imply. See Business and not-for profit organisations enquiries for the Single Touch Payroll contact details.

Thanks again for the query.

Cheers

MarkA

Stp reporting

Gksa — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 01:37:23 GMT

I have registered and reported a pay run last week, however, there are previous pay runs (8) I haven’t reported via stp, how do I do this ?

STP

Icon361 — Fri, 31 Jan 2020 06:07:10 GMT

We only started STP this month which is in the middle of the financial year, so the yearly total income on the report we have sent is not right . Do we need to report the wages paid from the start of financial year? If it’s yes, how to do that? Thanks.

Settup up for STP with a Substituted Accounting Period

FionaH — Fri, 31 Jan 2020 01:58:13 GMT

Hi,

I am the treasurer of a school P&C (not-for-profit) and we operate with a substuted accounting period running from 1st January to 31st December. Our accounts have been maintained in Excel up to 31/12/2019 (the end of our substituted accounting period).

Iinorder to comply with STP we are transferring our accounts into Quickbooks (opening balances are being dated 1/1/2020). We will start using STP in Febrary 2020.

Can someone please explain how the payroll information relating to 1/7/2019 to 31/1/2020 will be communicated to the ATO. All of the payments made from 1/7/2019 to 31/1/2020 were recorded manually in Excel, so there is no record of those transactions in Quickbooks.

1) Do I somehow need to create opening balances for the employees to capture the pays made from 1/7/2019 to 31/12/2020 inorder for that information to be transmitted as YTD information for STP?

2) Does the payroll information from 1/7/2019 to 31/1/2020 get submitted to the ATO via a Payment Summary Annual Report at 30 June 2020, and the payroll iinfomration transmitted via STP (1/2/2020 to 30/6/2020) is left off the Payment Summary Annual Report as it will have been transmimtted via STP.

Thanks for your help

Stp and business portal

Tw26 — Thu, 30 Jan 2020 04:11:51 GMT

Hi I am new to the stp system and just want to know if I check in the ATO business portal stp reports there are some pay weeks missing yet when I check in the myGov account the year to date totals etc are correct. So does it matter that in the ATO business portal things are not right as long as figures correct in the myGov of employees ?

Re: payment summary early

Matthew-at-ICB — Sun, 26 Jan 2020 22:20:07 GMT

Your software should allow you to finalise one indidivuals pay for the year (even part way through the year) without effecting other employees.
So yes just finalise for the one employee.

icb.org.au

Re: STP Finalisation

Matthew-at-ICB — Sun, 26 Jan 2020 22:15:54 GMT

Yes you can finalise now.
icb.org.au

Re: Duplicate STP lodged in error

RachaelB — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 22:10:16 GMT

Hi ,

Thanks for getting back to us!

From what you've described, it sounds like our systems may have processed both pay events, with one as an "out of cycle" payment.

Unfortunately, we can't remove any pay event reports but correcting the issue should be pretty straight forward. You don't need to do anything extra, just lodge your next pay event report as usual.

This will update your YTD totals in our systems to show the correct amounts for each employee. Each new pay event report that you lodge essentially overwrites the YTD figures from the previous one. This is the way STP has been designed, so that there is no need to go back and revise or remove prior pay events.

Having duplicated or incorrect pay event reports in your submission history isn't going to cause you any troubles down the line, as long as the YTD amounts at the end of the financial year match the amounts that have been reported on your BAS.

Hope this helps,

Rachael B.

Re: payment summary early

LukeS — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 07:53:18 GMT

Hello ,

Employers who report an employee’s details through Single Touch Payroll (STP) will not have to provide that employee with a payment summary and they won’t be required to provide the ATO with a payment summary annual report for those employee’s details.

The employee will be able to access their Income Statement through their Mygov account linked to the ATO which is updated through the year based on the information you have entered through Single Touch Payroll.

I hope this helps.

Luke S

STP Finalisation

Harker2121 — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 07:11:15 GMT

Hi there, our business has closed down for good. Just wondering if we could do the PAYG finalisation now and cancel the MYOB subsciption or we gotta wait until year end, otherwise we would have to pay several monthly subscription to MYOB for this. Thanks heaps for you guys' help!

Re: Ipayroll

JasonT — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 02:58:56 GMT

Hi ,

It's worthwhile identifying what triggered the creation of a new payroll
ID with the fourth STP transmission.

Contact with your software provider should help identify how this occurred
and how to ensure further unwanted payroll ID's are not created for the
employee.

To address the YTD figures;

• Leave the first three STP transmissions as they are.

• Continue lodging under the new payroll ID that was created in the fourth
transmission.

• On the next STP transmission update the YTD figures to only include pays corresponding to the second payroll ID.

Once you are ready to finalise your STP payroll data there will be two
finalisations to confirm.

The first related to the payroll ID associated with the first three STP
transmissions.

The second related to the fourth transmission and all subsequent
transmissions for the rest of the financial year.

Hope this helps!

JasonT

Re: Duplicate STP lodged in error

Jayjayeleven — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 01:13:22 GMT

Thank you so much for your response. I can see on the Business Portal that there are two entries for each of the two pay periods. Both have the exact same pay period dates and amounts, yet different process dates.

Can you advise if I need to do anything further?

What time period would you expect the ATO to remove the duplicate entry once it was discovered?

Thanks so much in advance

Re: Duplicate STP lodged in error

RachaelB — Wed, 22 Jan 2020 22:25:37 GMT

Hi ,

Thanks for your question!

If all of the key data is exactly the same on both pay event reports, our systems should pick up on this as a duplication. Single Touch Payroll really runs off the Year to date (YTD) totals, so if there are any errors present they should be corrected when the next pay event report is lodged.

If you have access to the Business Portal, you can see instructions on how to view your YTD totals online here. This will let you keep an eye on what data we've received on our end, so you can compare it to your software totals.

I hope this helps, but please let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks,

Rachael B.

payment summary early

VA1 — Wed, 22 Jan 2020 04:47:15 GMT

i am wondering what the process is to complete a part payment summary in STP early ie now ? due to employee leaving the country.

Thanks heaps

Re: STP Failed Report

Biggiesmalls — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 05:03:20 GMT

If it failed it won't be on the YTD totals so there shouldnt be any issues with incorrect totals

Duplicate STP lodged in error

Jayjayeleven — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 04:35:14 GMT

Could you please advised on how to proceed to correct an error where duplicate lodgements were made for the same amount for the same pay period.

Does the system regonise this and remove the duplicate itself?

Can you advise on my next steps. Thanks in advance.

Re: Ipayroll

gtho4 — Sat, 18 Jan 2020 13:35:18 GMT

After a lot of digging around the ATO website: the STP system uses four indentifiers for each transmission -- BMS id, ABN of employer, TFN of employee plus a 32 digit hexadecimal employee ID. Each STP transmisison I've done (see above) has had identical numbers for the first three identifiers but a different one for the 4th. The ATO system will only overwrite a previous STP transmission with the new YTD figures if all four identifiers are the same.

The designers of this STP system had to allow for this -- an employee of a company has two jobs and each is under a different award, and thus receives two pay slips under two payroll IDs. Each ID generates a different 32 digit hex for STP. I'm caught in no-man's land, as I can't regenerate the previous 32 digit hex numbers.

Re: Single Touch Payroll status report

gtho4 — Sat, 18 Jan 2020 13:25:58 GMT

After you login, go to the page for the client. You'll see six options across the page, underneath the client's name:

Summary -- Profile -- Accounts and payments -- Lodgments -- Super -- Business

Click on the arrow underneath Business and then click on the first item in the drop-down list, STP reporting. You'll then see dertails of each STP transmission since 1-7-19, listed backwards: oldest transmission is at the bottom, most recent at the top. There is no option to change the display into chronological order down the page, with the most recent at the bottom.

You need to do this one at a time for each client.

Re: STP update to zero employee's YTD figures

KylieS — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 03:28:26 GMT

Hi ,

We have been advised that you need to lodge an update event for the employee with zeros to remove any previous information. If this is what you have done and there is an issue with it we would suggest going back to your software provider.

Thanks

KylieS

Re: Single Touch Payroll status report

KylieS — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 01:04:13 GMT

Hi ,

This page has information on how to view your reports for Single touch payroll.

KylieS

Re: STP update to zero employee's YTD figures

KylieS — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 01:36:15 GMT

Hi ,

We are looking into this one and will get back to you as soon as can.

Thanks

KylieS

STP Failed Report

Lesleigh — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 00:06:44 GMT

What happens if two STP files have failed at different times but you have lodged successfully for the same employees after this? Will the ATO just pick up on the YTD totals from the latest report or will the individual employees totals be incorrect?

Single Touch Payroll status report

manjeetg — Wed, 15 Jan 2020 04:15:17 GMT

Hi all,

With the new onlineservice for agents, where can we generate STP Status report for all my clients?? Need help

Re: STP UPload

KylieS — Wed, 15 Jan 2020 02:12:33 GMT

Hi ,

If the file is sitting in your pay system you may need to check with them, if not check out our page on correcting a pay event.

Thanks

KylieS

Re: Payroll Reporting Centre

KylieS — Wed, 15 Jan 2020 02:09:45 GMT

Hi ,

This information on correcting a pay event should assist you.

Thanks

KylieS

Re: Payroll Reporting Centre

KylieS — Wed, 15 Jan 2020 02:07:55 GMT

Hi ,

Check out this post where we have answered this previously.

Thanks

KylieS

STP update to zero employee's YTD figures

gt2020 — Tue, 14 Jan 2020 03:48:04 GMT

one employee was accidientally created and paid from a wrong company. we've now corrected his YTD in the payroll system. We were advised by the software provider to send a STP udpate. However the preview of JSON file for the STP update doesn't have any context for gross=0 and tax=0 explicitly. Would you please advise if that means his previous gross will not be changed? We want to set this gross to zero and tax to zero. We could get the employee to log in mygov to check, but we don't like to trial and see. Thank you,

Re: Single Touch Payroll - Foreign Employees Reporting Time Frame

NateH — Mon, 13 Jan 2020 05:59:56 GMT

Hi ,

We have a page on our website that has our current information about foreign employers / shadow payrolls.

Hope this helps! Thanks, NateH

Re: Single Touch Payroll - Foreign Employees Reporting Time Frame

NateH — Mon, 13 Jan 2020 03:48:19 GMT

We are going to check on this one for you and get back to you with an answer soon

Thanks, NateH

Re: Tax refund more than 1000$ rules

TaxedoMask — Mon, 13 Jan 2020 00:24:18 GMT

From a technical standpoint - it is still a valid "tax invoice". Whilst invoices over $1,000 should include the recipients identitity or ABN (per s29-70 GST Act), to the extent it does not identify the full name and address of the recipient, they are still treated as valid "tax invoices" owing to s48-57.

Separately, the definition of 'identity' as it is not a defined term within the GST Act - if we fall onto common law / the ordinary definition of the word - there's a question of whether a mobile number or email is sufficient to identify someone - notwithstanding the point that it may or may not be valid for TRS purposes.

There's also a practical consideration given the rising cost of goods and that it would not be practical nor necessary for retailers to store the full passport name and address of buyers. There are also privacy concerns. Further as TRS generally doesn't apply to the bulk of transactions since most purchases relate to domestic use, it would only add unnecessary red tape.

Whilst unfortunate - you should see if JB Hifi can assist you with your issue.

Re: STP

NateH — Fri, 10 Jan 2020 05:32:13 GMT

Hi ,

We recommend you contact your software provider in the first instance. If you need any further help you will need to contact us over the phone as we'll need to access your account.

Thanks, NateH

Re: Ammendment for the 16-17 financial year

Mtav10 — Fri, 10 Jan 2020 05:00:23 GMT

That’s what I thought but the employee has been a little persistent.
Moving wouldn’t even be beneficial as they lwould go above the cap for contributions for that year anyways

Re: STP

NateH — Fri, 10 Jan 2020 04:38:39 GMT

Hi ,

We are going to check this and get back to you as soon as possible.

Thanks, NateH

Re: Ammendment for the 16-17 financial year

NateH — Fri, 10 Jan 2020 04:35:52 GMT

Hi @Mtvav10,

is correct in saying that the contribution can't be backdated when you pay it.

That being said, the employee can then apply to have it reallocated to the correct year due to special circumstances. We have some information on our website about disregarding or reallocating your contributions that you can show them.

Thanks, NateH

Re: Tax refund more than 1000$ rules

Emilecro — Thu, 09 Jan 2020 07:50:09 GMT

Is Jb hifi supposed to put automatically the name of the buyer on the receipt then? That should be their responsibility no?

« Tax invoices for sales of $1,000

Tax invoices for sales of $1,000 or more need to show the buyer's identity or ABN.

If your tax invoices meet the requirements for sales of $1,000 or more, you can also use them for sales of lesser amounts.«

Re: Tax refund more than 1000$ rules

TaxedoMask — Thu, 09 Jan 2020 06:22:35 GMT

Unlikely since it does not conform with the rules/requirements.

Tax refund more than 1000$ rules

Emilecro — Thu, 09 Jan 2020 05:44:13 GMT

Hi everybody

I bought an iPhone at JB hifi
Unfortunately they didn’t put my name or passport number on the receipt and can’t add it anymore.
Am I still going to be able to get a tax refund at the airport?

Thanks for you help
Emile

STP UPload

Julie22 — Thu, 09 Jan 2020 04:13:42 GMT

I have tried to upload my STP Reporting via our payroll system (Sage Mircropay) the file is sitting in the system stating Pending. Prior to the work over the Christmas Period we did not have an issue with the STP Reporting. Can you advise if there this any reason why we can no longer do our STP Reporting.

Our IT department have determined that we are meeting all the basic software/anti virus/firewall requirements but we can not upload the STP any help would be appreciated

Payroll Reporting Centre

9235 — Thu, 09 Jan 2020 04:04:36 GMT

Prior to registering for Single Touch Payroll, we processed several payroll transactions and submitted these to the Payroll Reporting Centre. Their report shows these transactions as "Rejected". How do we get them accepted?

Payroll Reporting Centre

9235 — Thu, 09 Jan 2020 03:59:28 GMT

How do I cancel payroll entries submitted to the Payroll Reporting Centre?

Re: Single Touch Payroll - Foreign Employees Reporting Time Frame

KMacDonaldRSI — Wed, 08 Jan 2020 22:36:39 GMT

Hi Nate,

I appreciate the info you provided previously about a possible extension being available to foreign employers / shadow payrolls. I was wondering if you had any update on the status of that decision, as so far I have not seen any updates or communication about this recently.

Regards,

Kiel

Re: Error message Sinlge Touch Payroll Lodge

NicolaC — Tue, 07 Jan 2020 02:01:46 GMT

Looks like one of the following fields hasn't been completed:

Business name
Business address (note: the ‘Address Line 1’ and ‘Suburb’ fields are compulsory)
Business phone number

Once these fields have been completed, you should be able to resubmit. If the error continues please contact us.

NicolaC

Re: Ammendment for the 16-17 financial year

TaxedoMask — Mon, 06 Jan 2020 06:00:36 GMT

You cannot back date superannuation contributions. That is, you cannot make a contribution today and say it is for a prior period.

Payment only count towards the period they are received by the superannuation fund.

Re: Micro Employer - 1 director plus 1 employee

SteveKing — Mon, 06 Jan 2020 05:02:47 GMT

Thank you again Matthew.

Best regards,

Steve

Re: Micro Employer - 1 director plus 1 employee

Matthew-at-ICB — Mon, 06 Jan 2020 05:00:21 GMT

closely held employee is not treated differently as such but is allowed an additional concession in terms of STP reproting.

The ATO webiste has attempted to provide an explanation but led you to a complicaiton.

So..... keep it simple

report any employee when you pay them

If the amount paid to the closely held employee changes you are allowed to reduce their pay in a latter quarter.

Micro quarterly concession is still until 30 june 2021 but we are advocating that is should continue

Re: Micro Employer - 1 director plus 1 employee

SteveKing — Mon, 06 Jan 2020 04:37:20 GMT

Hi, Matthew.

Thank you for your solution.

My understanding from the ATO's website is that the director, as closely held employee, is treated differently as regular employee in terms of STP reporting. Your solution seems more practical - report both at the same time. STP reports can be submit quarterly for both (1 director + 1 employee) at the same time till 30/6/2021 and then on each pay event.

Is it 30/6/2020 or 30/6/2021 the deadline for quarterly STP report on the employee of a micro employer?

Kind regards,

Steve

STP

Debbie1 — Mon, 06 Jan 2020 03:51:48 GMT

My software is saying ' sent for lodge' on my STP lodgement.

Why hasn't the ATO sent a message saying lodge complete

Ammendment for the 16-17 financial year

Mtav10 — Mon, 06 Jan 2020 03:28:26 GMT

hi,

currently have an employee who is owed $950 in super for the 16-17 financial year

he doesnt want the payment done in this financial year because he wants to be able to make contributions to hit the cap even though processing this for that year will send him above that years cap.

am i able to make this payment for that financial year and if so how can i do this?

Re: Lump Sum Super

Matthew-at-ICB — Mon, 06 Jan 2020 03:24:15 GMT

based on your scenario you might have a problem in the June quarter becuase if you have a Super Guarantee obligation for the quarter you will still have to pay mroe super in that quarter.

Best to consider holding some super for the last quarter