The Benefits Of Single Touch Payroll (STP) Phase 2

It will be mandatory for all Australian employers to be set up and comply with Single Touch Payroll in the coming months. There are a few benefits to this new regime that you may not be aware of.

Phase One
In phase one of STP, we saw that it made submitting payroll information to the ATO a whole lot easier. With this new regime, employers are able to automatically send payroll data to the ATO as they file their payroll internally. Subsequently, streamlining the process and ending the need to file additional reports at the end of each financial year.

Phase Two
While phase one aided in streamlining the payroll process, phase two has been introduced to prevent redundancies in reporting and submitting your information. This will assist with preventing mistakes and should make tax time easier for both employers and employees, as the ATO will already have a lot of the information they need on file.

Employers will no longer have to file separately for the following:
Employment separation certificates
Employment payment summaries
Payment summary annual reports
Monthly child support deduction reports
Employee tax file number declarations
There are also a number of benefits for employees that will ultimately simplify their annual tax reporting. Such as:
Ensure more accurate payments from their employers
Income-related debt will be lower for employees
Changes to income will have more clarity
Fewer reporting errors
More equitable debt capacity analysis

In essence, employers, employees and the ATO will have a lighter workload when it comes to tax time and will likely encounter fewer errors in their reporting. If you’re yet to be set-up for STP, please get in touch to arrange a suitable time to discuss how Growth iQ can assist you in this process.