Monthly Archives: March 2018

STPR:  Real-time payroll reporting and cross-agency information sharing

Businesses that employ more than 20 employees will be required to report to the Australian Taxation Office payments such as salaries, wages, PAYG withholding and superannuation on or before each pay day.  The reporting will be done via your Single Touch Payroll enabled software (usually your accounting software).  Businesses with 19 or less employees will have to start reporting on 1 July 2019 but will have the option to start reporting sooner if they would like to.

Once businesses start reporting, employees will be able to see their year to date tax and superannuation information online by logging into their myGov accounts and accessing the ATO online services.  Superannuation funds will also be reporting the payments employers make to super on behalf of employees more frequently from 2019.

Step 1: Do a headcount of employees on 1 April 2018

• For businesses with 20 or more employees on 1 April 2018, mandatory reporting commences on 1 July 2018.
• For businesses with 19 or fewer employees on 1 April 2019, mandatory reporting commences on 1 July 2019 but you can choose to report earlier if your software is ready.

Instructions on how to count your employees on 1 April can be found here.
The headcount is a self-assessment so you do not need to notify the tax office your employee numbers.

Step 2: Ensure you have SBR enabled software

You will need to ensure that your computerised payroll system complies. You can check if your software complies here or you can contact your software supplier.

If you use a manual payroll system you can speak to us about your options.

Step 3: Ensure your payroll systems and processes are compliant

Check that your payroll methods comply with the Fair Work Act 2009 and that you have processes in place to ensure that employee superannuation payments are made by the due dates.  In most cases the due date will be 28 days after the end of each quarter.

Step 4: Start reporting your payroll

The mandatory reporting dates are:

• 1 July 2018 (if you have 20 or more employees) or
• 1 July 2019 (if you have 19 or fewer employees)

If you need to apply for a deferral of commencement date or would like our assistance to become STP ready, you can contact us.

As we approach 31 March, it is important that business owners begin to look at strategies to optimise their year end tax position. We believe that the best way to achieve this, is by having tax planning undertaken.

What is tax planning?

Tax planning is the art of reducing your taxable income in the most tax-effective and legal manner possible. This involves looking at the financial performance of your business for the year to date and extrapolating the results to the end of the financial year, with a view to estimating the likely profit for the financial year. We then meet with you and discuss tax optimisation strategies to implement in your business prior to 30 June. By implementing the suggested strategies, you’ll find that you and/or your business will achieve the best tax and cash flow outcomes.

We can help with tax planning

Our team has a wealth of experience with tax planning and can help you achieve the best possible end-of-year result for your business. Contact us now to arrange a meeting with one of our tax professionals and see what difference we can make to your 2018 financial year tax outcome.

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These newsletters cover a wide range of topics and are relevant to individuals and businesses alike.

Check out our full range here: https://connolecarlisle.com.au/news/newsletters/