STP is aimed to assist employers in the process of reporting PAYG to the ATO. Rather than reporting on a monthly or quarterly basis, employers will be required to report information immediately after a ‘payroll event’, enabling the ATO to pre-fill PAYG sections of BAS’.
STP has already commenced for employers who have 20 or more employees (from 1st 2018), however due to the first year being a transition period, penalties may not apply. Employers with 19 or less employees will begin reporting through STP from the 1st of July 2019 – that is, if legislation passes in parliament.
Although STP commences 1st July 2019 for employers with 19 or less employees, from 29th January the ATO will be informing these employers that they do not need to wait for legislation to pass to start reporting through STP. If STP is offered by their preferred payroll software, the can update their software and start reporting now.
For further information on the ATO website, click here.
Written by Peter Voukidis
