What the expansion is
Single Touch Payroll (STP) is part of the government's commitment to streamlining employer reporting obligations. STP was legislated on 16 September 2016 as part of the Budget Savings (Omnibus) Act 2016External Link.
Most employers are now reporting through STP. You will need to start reporting if you have not transitioned yet unless you have an exemption or a deferral.
In the 2019–20 Budget, the government announced that STP would be expanded to include additional information.
Including this additional information will:
- reduce the reporting burden for employers who need to report information about their employees to more than one government agency
- support the administration of the social security system.
The mandatory start date for STP Phase 2 reporting is 1 January 2022.
We are working with DSPs that are updating their solution to support Phase 2 reporting. Your DSP will let you know when your solution is ready.
Some DSPs, despite their best efforts, will need more time to get ready and transition their customers. They will advise you if we have approved a deferral for you to start reporting later than the mandatory start date.
If you can transition to STP Phase 2 reporting when your solution is ready then you do not need to ask us for more time, even after 1 January 2022.
If you need more time in addition to your DSP's deferral, you must apply. See STP expansion (Phase 2) delayed transitions.
How STP works
STP works by sending tax and super information from your STP-enabled payroll or accounting solution to us when you run your payroll.
This has not changed with Phase 2.
Your STP Phase 2 solution will send us a report with the information we need from you, such as:
- details of the remuneration you pay
- the type of income for the employee (such as salary and wages, or working holiday maker income)
- the components which make up the amounts (such as gross pay, paid leave, allowances or overtime)
- details of your pay as you go (PAYG) withholding
- the amounts you have withheld from payments you make
- information about how you calculated the amount, which you currently provide to us by sending a copy of the employee’s TFN declaration
- super liability information.
This guide provides information on:
- mandatory reporting
- voluntary reporting
- payments that are out of scope and cannot be reported through STP.
These have not changed under Phase 2.
This guide explains rules about:
- how to report employment and taxation information through STP Phase 2
- reporting the amounts you have paid
- other components of your STP reporting
- when an employee transfers or leaves.
You can also make corrections to your employees' YTD amounts in your next pay event in the same financial year, or through an update event. See Correcting information reported through STP.
How you send STP information to us depends on the solution you use.
Find out about transitioning from STP Phase 1 to STP Phase 2 reporting.