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Clients who have yet to begin reporting through Single Touch Payroll have just days to get their affairs in order before the final deadline.
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Single Touch Payroll deadline looms
26 September 2019
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8 minute read
The Single Touch Payroll (STP) deadline is just four days away for small businesses with 19 or fewer employees.
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From Tuesday, 1 October 2019, employers of all size will be required be STP-complaint, although penalties for smaller employers will be waived until 30 June 2020.
Businesses that are not able to begin STP reporting are required to have an exemption or deferral in place.
According to the ATO, there are more than 425,000 employers across Australia now reporting via STP, including around 350,000 smaller businesses.
Just under 40,000 applications for deferrals, exemptions and quarterly reporting concessions have been received by the Tax Office, meaning there is a significant portion of the estimated 750,000 small business population that are not STP-ready.
“Our data shows that 3.2 per cent of small employers are covered by a deferral or exemption, or have been granted a quarterly reporting concession,” an ATO spokesperson told sister publication My Business last week.
“The ATO is encouraging small employers to engage with us ahead of the 30 September deadline if they’re not ready to start reporting.”
Institute of Certified Bookkeepers executive director Matthew Addison said bookkeepers were well placed to help employers make the transition to STP.
“Bookkeepers using Single Touch Payroll–enabled software should easily be able to help a business to report each payday to the ATO,” Mr Addison said.
“We are finding that with a little bit of preparation and knowledge, bookkeepers and employers can implement and manage STP with minimal interruption and smoothly integrate it into their everyday business process.
“Businesses have long been using systems to pay their employees; now that system reports the same information to the ATO.”
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