Reading time: One touch reporting to the ATO
Single Touch Payroll is the Government reporting requirement for employers. It is designed to make your reporting requirements easier. Affected areas include:
- salaries and wages,
- PAYG withholding, and
- superannuation.
The above payments need to be reported to the ATO from an employer’s payroll solution at the same time that employees are paid. Employers will no longer be able to use a separate process to report payments to the ATO.
Changes to Payment Summaries from 2019
Because payments will be reported via Single Touch Payroll throughout the financial year, they won't need to be included on a Payment Summary at the end of the financial year.
This means that, if all payments for an employee are reported via Single Touch Payroll, you won't need to give that employee a Payment Summary.
All that information will be available to the employee through myGov when they're ready to prepare their income tax return. A Payment Summary will still need to be provided regarding any payments to an employee that can't be reported through Single Touch Payroll.
The ATO has produced resources to help you understand your Single Touch Payroll obligations.