Single Touch Payroll and Payment Summaries 2023 – what you need to know
The evolution of Single Touch Payroll (STP) requires more effort than usual on year end payroll finalisation.
Under STP employers must report pay, allowances, taxes and superannuation information directly to the ATO every payday through STP.
Employers using STP will not give employees a payment summary as they usually would at this time of year. Instead, employees will get an end-of-year income statement in ATO online services through myGov.
Employers have until 14 July 2023 to complete all STP finalisations so employees may need to exercise some patience as this process is completed. If your business is having difficulty with these deadlines then keep your employees informed
We see many errors in this process requiring rework for both employers and employees so we recommend working through a reconciliation process. Our bookkeeping team can help with your year end review process.
Helpful guides for employers
No one said this process would be easy. STP is still relatively new and we have added STP Phase 2 into the mix. It is essential that you review and reconcile your bank account, payroll and super records prior to finalising STP reports in order to avoid later updates for both you and your employees.
If you need help, please give us a call.
Our bookkeeping team is growing as many clients discover the benefits of our comprehensive service. Service options and assistance includes
- Set up and fully utilise Xero for business
- Improvement in the quality of bookkeeping
- Answering payroll and bookkeeping queries
- IAS and BAS preparation
- Detailed coding and bank reconciliation
- Taking this headache away. Our team help manage your bookkeeping and payroll, giving you peace of mind, assessment ready records and time back in your day to focus on growing your business.
Closely held payees – concessional reporting dates
If you have 20 or more employees, you should be reporting closely held payees each pay day along with arms-length employees. The finalisation due date for closely held payees is 30 September each year.
For small employers (19 or fewer employees) who only have closely held payees, the due date for end-of-year STP finalisation will be the payee’s income tax return due date.
For an employer with a mixture of both closely held payees and arms-length employees, the due date for end-of-year STP finalisation for closely held payees is 30 September each year. All other employees are due 14 July each year.
Please note – while you may have concessional reporting dates for STP finalisation those concessions do not extend to concessions on super guarantee charge which will still be due no later than 28 July for wages that relate to the quarter ending 30 June 2023.
Tips for employees
While you may be eager to get your tax sorted early this year, to avoid errors and rework from missing or incorrect information on areas such as STP, bank interest reporting, dividend reporting, etc it usually pays to wait until the dust has settled.
As always, please contact us if you have any questions.
