Submission of the Claim Form
The submission of the Monthly Form on the ATO website is:

• An approved form, in Law, and therefore you MUST be authorised to lodge and have a Client Declaration
• The Claim form – an employer will NOT be paid unless they lodge this monthly form
• April report must be lodged by 31 May

May report: The law requires it to be lodged in 7days unless the Commissioner allows longer. We have requested the end of the following month is reasonable.

GST Turnover
ATO have now advised that the GST Turnover fields on the monthly report should be:

• “Entities should make a genuine effort to calculate and report current and projected GST turnover. If you later identify errors in the calculation, you will not be required to re-report to the ATO.
• “If the error is related to employee details or payments made, and will impact the amount of the JobKeeper payment(s), the employer/agent will need to call the call centre. There is no online amendment capability.”
• They have also advised that the GST turnover is to be calculated on the SAME basis as the decline in turnover test was calculated.
• They have explicitly called out that the Monthly report of GST Turnover is not being used to re-assess any Decline in turnover.
• They do note that if the projected decline that was used is unreasonable then they make enquiries.

Different Experiences – employee list
The ATO system provides a different experience depending on whether the employee has used payroll software with STP reporting and again a slightly different experience if you are using JobKeeper Codes in that software.

Payroll Software with STP and using JobKeeper Codes
The ATO are informed of the employers “eligible employees” through the use of the JobKeeper-Start codes.
Employer will NOT (currently) see the employee list nor be able to maintain it on the ATO website.
The ATO will prefill the number of employees – if it is incorrect then “edit” them, check the software is reporting the correct employees to ATO through STP.

Payroll Software with STP and NOT using JobKeeper Codes
The ATO are informed of the employers’ employees through STP reporting.
The Employer will be provided with the employee list and will be able to indicate JK status on the ATO website. They will also be able to add any missing employees.
The ATO will not prefill the number of employees in April, but will do so in May and following.
Payroll without STP software.
The ATO do not have the eligible employees and therefore the employee must add them.

• For less than 40 – this can be performed on screen
• For more than 40 they are required to complete a CSV file and submit it to the ATO.

The Employer will be provided with the ability to add employees and indicate the JK status.
​
The ATO will not prefill the number of employees in April, but will do so in May and following.

We are always here to help with any questions you might have, please contact us directly.

Sally

​For employers
 
What do I need to do?
Single Touch Payroll reporting will take effect from 1 July 2019. 

All necessary payroll information, such as wages & salaries, 
​(PAYG) withholding and super information, will be reported to the ATO
when you pay your employees.

If you have existing payroll or accounting software, it should offer updated ‘Single Touch Payroll’ reporting. However, if it’s not an option speak to your software provider or Boox for when their product will be ready.
 
What does it mean?

• Reporting with Single Touch Payroll will send your employees’ payroll and super information to the ATO directly from your payroll software each payday.
• Payments to employees can still be made weekly, fortnightly or monthly.
• PAYG withholding and super contributions payment due dates remain the same with the choice to pay earlier if you choose.
• You may not need to provide your employees with a payment summary at the end of financial year for certain payments reported via Single Touch Payroll. This information will be available by the ATO to employees via myGov.
• Options for you to invite employees to complete Tax file number declaration, Superannuation standard choice form and Withholding declaration online will be available in the near future.
• Employees will be able to view their year-to-date tax and super information through myGov.​

What you need to do

• Update your current software to include Single Touch Payroll reporting from 1 July 2019. Alternatively, if you don’t have online software you can upgrade the existing software, convert to new, or if applicable, take advantage of free or very low cost software available just for the compliance of STP. 
• Talk to Boox-The Bookkeeping Experts about available software updates, or contact us to give you the best advice on a solution for your business.

 
For employees

Single Touch Payroll (STP) is a tax and super information reporting change that all employers must adhere to by 1 July 2019.

The new ‘real-time’ reporting method via STP will send employee tax and super information direct to the ATO each time you are paid.

This change will have little effect on employees directly. However, there are a few changes to be aware of.

What does this mean for you?
Year-to-date tax and super information will be available to you through myGov.

• Information will be accessible by logging into myGov and ATO online services.
  • If you don’t have a myGov account it’s very easy to set up by simply using your email or mobile number to sign in.
  • It’s not compulsory to have a myGov account. However, you won’t be able to see your year-to-date tax and super information without one.
• Real-time reporting means that your year-to-date tax and super information will be available each payment date. 
  • Information can take a few days to update in myGov from the date of payment, so your payslip may not match instantly.

 
Payment summaries will be available in myGov

• Your employer is not obliged to give you an end of year payment summary for the information they report through STP (the law has changed).
• Payment summary information will be available in myGov at the end of the financial year.
  • If your employer is using STP reporting, check with them on how you will get your payment summary for 2019/20. 
  • Your employer may choose to issue payment summaries for the first year.
• Payment summary information via myGov will be called an income statement(formally know as a group certificate).
• The ATO will send a notification to your myGov inbox when your income statementis ‘tax ready’ for your accountant to lodge your tax return.
• Using a registered tax agent, you can continue to lodge your tax return as you currently do.

 
You can check if your super has been paid.

• Your employer will tell the ATO how much super they are required to pay to your superannuation fund.
• The Super fund will inform the ATO once your employer has made the payment to your fund.

​Boox the Bookkeeping Experts are specialists in all bookkeeping fields and are available to help you understand and implement these changes. Contact us to help you make the transition.