EOFY under STP

Payment Summaries have a new name and location

·         Payment Summary information will now be available online at myGov. It will be called an ‘Income Statement’.
·         Once you start reporting under STP, you will no longer be required to issue a Payment Summary.

Question: Will the ATO be doing a marketing campaign to advise employees about the end of Payment Summaries?

Answer: No. There are currently 60,000 employers live with STP, but there are more than 700,000 small employers that don’t start STP until 1 July 2019. A large marketing campaign would only cause confusion for the vast majority of people that aren’t impacted by the change yet.

Question: How can we notify employees about the changes?

Answer:  The ATO has already prepared a range of information that you can share with employees.

·         There is a PDF document that summarises the changes. This is an excellent document that can be attached to an email from payroll. Click here
·         Setting up a myGov account. Click here
·         Accessing your income statement or payment summary online. Click here

Question: What if my employee demands a Payment Summary?

Answer: The law has changed and employers are no longer required to issue a Payment Summary.

·         Employees can access their Income Statement via myGov
·         If the employee uses a tax agent to lodge their tax return, their tax agent has access to the Income Statement. The employee does not need to give them a paper Payment Summary.
·         If the employee doesn’t have access to myGov or a tax agent, they can call the ATO who will issue a paper copy of the Income Statement.
Question: Can I issue a paper Payment Summary/Income Statement to all employees this year to assist with the transition.

Answer: Yes, in theory you can, but it may not be a good strategy. If you do it this year, employees may expect it again next year.