Employers will soon be able to report some tax and superannuation information to the ATO automatically, at the same time they pay their employees using Single Touch Payroll (STP). When employers pay their staff, the employees’ salary or wages and PAYG withholding amounts will be automatically reported to the ATO. Super contribution information will also be reported to the ATO when payments are made by employers to the fund.

This means some employers will no longer have to manually report this information to the ATO.

In a phased approach:

• Employers with 20 or more employees will be able to report to the ATO using a certified STP solution from 1 July 2017. From 1 July 2018 STP will be mandatory.
• Employers with 19 employees or less will be able to report using a certified STP solution from 1 July 2017. This will not be mandatory, and a pilot program will commence in September 2016 to help the ATO understand the needs and benefits of STP for small businesses.

The ATO is working with software developers and payroll solution providers to ensure their products are enabled for Single Touch Payroll.

For more information about STP, visit the ATO website.