Many small and micro business owners may not be aware that from 1 July 2019 they will be required to become Single Touch Payroll (STP)compliant. What this means is that for any business currently doing payroll manually they will need to use some type of electronic software to report wages and super payments to the ATO.
This has been described as the biggest compliance undertaking since GST was introduced, as more than 700,000 businesses will have to comply with Single Touch Payroll requirements. The good news is that Xero and MYOB have announced that they will release standalone payroll software products for $10 per month to help small and micro businesses meet their compliance requirements.
In addition to this the ATO have been in discussions with major banks to determine whether a digital banking solution will be an option available to small business. This could include adding STP compliant digital payroll reporting to existing online banking infrastructure.
In the meantime, the ATO have stated that they will contact all micro and small business employers to detail the options available as there will definitely be no manual reporting option available. The ATO have stated that they won’t penalise any businesses who aren’t STP compliant from 1 July as long as they do comply during the 19/20 financial year.
One impact that STP will have on business owners is that it will give the ATO up to date information on wages and super payments. This will assist them in identifying any employers who are not paying their super on time and no doubt will lead to more superannuation audits going forward.
So if you are a micro or small business owner and have employees, I would strongly urge you to consider which digital software provider you will start using to meet your obligations. And with this it would be worthwhile looking at the benefits of using software such as Xero for the bookkeeping and reporting requirements of your business.
If you would like more information on Single Touch Payroll or Xero please call UHY Haines Norton on 4972 1300 or email info@uhyhncq.com.au
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