Single Touch Payroll to be extended to all employers

A Bill containing a range of measures, including extending Single Touch Payroll (STP) to all employers has passed both houses of Parliament and awaits assent.

The Treasury Laws Amendment (2018 Measures No 4) Bill 2018 contains numerous measures, including:

the broadening of STP reporting to all employers effective 1 July 2019, that is, employers with under 20 employees expand STP reporting by requiring employers to include salary sacrificed amounts paid to their employees’ superannuation funds. (The commencement date has recently been deferred until 1 October 2019).

There is payroll software available at minimal cost to assist you with STP. We will run a series of in-house training sessions to help all employers learn what is required.

Please contact us to share your interest in attending

Taxable payments annual report (TPAR) extended to other industries

You may need to lodge a Taxable payments annual report (TPAR) by 28 August each year if you are a:

• business providing:  
  • building and construction services
  • cleaning services – for contractor payments from 1 July 2018 (first report due by 28 August 2019)
  • courier services – for contractor payments from 1 July 2018 (first report due by 28 August 2019)
  • road freight services – for contractor payments from 1 July 2019 (first report due by 28 August 2020)
  • information technology (IT) services – for contractor payments from 1 July 2019(first report due by 28 August 2020)
  • security, investigation or surveillance services – for contractor payments from 1 July 2019 (first report due by 28 August 2020)
• government entity.

The TPAR tells the ATO about payments that are made to contractors for providing services. Some government entities also need to report the grants they have paid in a TPAR.

Contractors can include subcontractors, consultants and independent contractors. They can be operating as sole traders (individuals), companies, partnerships or trusts.

The details you need to report about each contractor are generally found on the invoice you should have received from them. This includes:

• their Australian business number (ABN), if known
• their name and address
• the gross amount you paid to them for the financial year (including any GST).

Proposed Superannuation Guarantee Amnesty

If you don’t pay an employee’s super fund by the due date, you may be liable for the super guarantee charge (SGC), even if you make the payment later.

As stated by the ATO, the SGC is made up of super guarantee (SG) shortfall amounts including any choice liability calculated on your employee’s salary, interest on those amounts which is currently at 10%, and an administration fee of $20 per employee, per quarter.

The good news is there is legislation that is currently before the Senate that will allow business owners to willingly disclose where they have short paid super funds. The ATO is actively promoting for business owners to take advantage of this opportunity to self-correct previous SG non-compliance without penalty.

Called the Superannuation Guarantee Amnesty, it is intended to be available for 12 months from 24 May 2018 to 23 May 2019. If enacted, business owners will be entitled to the benefits of the amnesty for any SG shortfalls that they have voluntarily disclosed to the ATO.

Who will be eligible?

To be eligible for the proposed Superannuation Guarantee Amnesty, any voluntary disclosure should be made prior to the start of an ATO audit. If you have unpaid employee super funds between 1 July 1992 to 31 March 2018, you will not be liable to penalties and the administration fee. Furthermore, you will be able to claim a deduction for catch up payments made before the 23 May 2019 end date.

Superannuation Guarantee Amnesty penalty

Businesses who are not up to date with their super fund payment responsibilities to their workers and who don’t step forward throughout the proposed SG amnesty may be penalised up to 100% of the SGC.

If you are behind in your superannuation payments, this is a once in a lifetime chance to remedy the situation and reduce the massive penalties you may incur.