Single Touch Payroll Reporting
For the majority of employers; starting tax year 2018-2019 they will no longer be issuing Payment Summaries. Instead as an employee you will need to login to the myGov portal and obtain whats called an Income Statement which replaces the payment summary.
Overview
Employees need to login to the myGov Portal to download their income statement for the tax period. The income statement replaces the payment summary that was previously distributed by the employer.
The income statement was introduced as part of the Single Touch Payroll initiative that the ATO introduced in the 2018-2019 tax year. As this is a change from previous years we have provided a short guide to help employees, payroll and HR professionals.
The good news is your Income Statement is updated every time your employer pays you; so you always have up to date information even if you leave mid-year. This also means:
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Your Income Statement is stored securely and easy to find (note: only years reported via STP will be available), and
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The process of finalising a year is much easier for employers, so pre iill information for completing tax returns may be available sooner.
Income Statement is the new Payment Summary
The Income Statement looks a little different from the the Payment Summary (or Group Certificate) but it provides all the information needed to complete a tax return. The information is updated electronically every time an employee is paid and becomes tax ready when your employer marks the STP report as finalised.
myGov Access
Step 1: Register and Login
1. If you haven't already, register for myGov
2. Sign in using your myGov credentials
Step 2: Navigate to the ATO service
Once you have completed login you will be taken to the myGov home page that will provide links to the services you have setup in the portal.
1. If you have not linked your myGov account to the Australian Taxation Office then do so
2. Click on the Australian Taxation Office service button
Step 3: View your Income Statement
Important
If you do not see Tax Ready next to your income statement you should NOT use this information for tax return purposes.
The ATO service home page displays a number of options, and has information on any actions that are currently pending.
1. Click on View my income statements link.
2. Within the Income statements section you will see all of the Income Statements that have been reported by STP. They will display in summary form as shown in the screenshot below.
3. By clicking on the down arrow (to the right of the Tax amount) you can see a break down of the details including when it was last reported and some high level totals.
4. Click on the Tax print button to proceed to the Income Statement.
5. The page will refresh and you will see the following that can be printed by simply clicking on the Print button, this action can also be used to save a copy as PDF using your browser print dialog.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can I still request a Payment Summary or Income Statement in a physical form from my employer ?
A: It is your responsibility to retrieve your income statement from the myGov portal yourself. The ATO has mandated that payment summaries should no longer be issued in almost all cases.
Q: My Income Statement status is showing as Year to date or Not tax ready what should I do?
A: Your employer should send an STP update to make the Income Statement ready by the 14th of July (extended to the 30th for tax year 19-20). If your income statement is not complete please contact your HR or payroll officer who will be able to advise.