STP Phase 2 Changes

Owned by Infinet Admin (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Jul 20, 2022 by Paul Hooker (Unlicensed)
4 min read

Overview

This page outlines the changes introduced with Infinet Cloud Payroll version 21.3. These changes were necessary for the support of Single Touch Payroll reporting Phase 2 (STP v2). You should already be familiar with the changes introduced by the ATO with STP v2 - a good starting point is the Transitioning to STP Phase 2 documentation.

Most changes will not be visible unless you enable STP v2 reporting (see Enabling STP v2 below). However, the changes on Employee records will be visible to all regardless of your configuration. This is to enable a smooth transition to STP v2, please continue reading to understand the field changes you will see.

Employee Level Changes

Employee Form

The Payroll Employee Form has been updated to simplify the setting of employee tax scale, and expose new fields for tax withholding variation and STP V2 reporting. The following screenshot highlights the key changes:

Payroll Employee Form - Tax Info Tab

  1. Has STSL field - new checkbox replaces the now deprecated “Help/VSL/FS/SSL/TSL Type”

  2. Tax Treatment Code - new field a 6 character code that encodes the information in STP V2

    1. Tax Category

    2. Tax Option

    3. Has STSL

    4. Medicare Levy Surcharge

    5. Medicare Levy Exemption

    6. Medicare Levy Reduction

  3. Tax Category and Tax Option - new fields STP V2

  4. Medicare Levy Surcharge - new field replaces now deprecated “Apply Medicare Levy Surcharge”

  5. Medicare Levy Reduction - new field and calculation to reduce medicare levy based on family withholding variation.

  6. Employment Basis - new field defaults from employment status for Full Time, Part Time and Casual STP V2

  7. Income Stream - new field replaces now deprecated “Income Type” field STP V2

  8. Home Country - new field for Working Holiday Maker to identify VISA Home Country STP V2

Employee Data Migration

The payroll bundle update will automatically pre populate the new fields for active employees (employees with a pay detail in the current tax year) setting the new fields based on their existing employee tax scale.

For most customers no further changes are needed. However if you have any of the following you will need to update your configuration:

  • Use a custom Employee Payroll Form - Your account administrator will need to replicate the changes in the tax Info tab onto your custom form.

  • Employee Tax Information Integration / CSV Import - Please ensure if your integration is setting “Help/VSL/FS/SSL/TSL Type” its updated to use the new checkbox.

Enabling STP v2

Please note that all Infinet Cloud Payroll customers are covered by a blanket deferral start date until August 2022. This means that you should NOT enable STP v2 until you are ready to begin reporting. E.g. the 22/23 tax year (starting 1st July 2022).

For more information please see ATO STP Phase/Version 2 Deferral Notice

To enable STP v2 you must do the following for each Company Branch you have setup in Infinet Cloud Payroll:

  1. Run the Branch Setup Assistant - from the menu select Payroll > Single Touch Payroll (AU) > Branch Setup Assistant

  2. Select the Branch you wish to enable

  3. Click Next > through to step 4. Configure STP Options

  4. Mark the following checkboxes as appropriate:

    1. Use Production Servers - this MUST be checked to report to the ATO (DO NOT uncheck this).

    2. Use V2 Reporting - mark this to enable version/phase 2 reporting. Once enabled and you have reported then you cannot switch back to v1.

    3. Report Child Support Amounts - mark this to enable the reporting of Child Support deductions and/or garnishee amounts via STP v2. This reduces the need to send a separate remittance advice to the Child Support Registrar. For more information please see: Employer Reporting Guidelines

    4. Working Holiday Maker Registered - mark this if this branch is registered as an employer of Working Holiday Makers. For more information, see Employer registration for Working Holiday Makers

    5. Remove Accents From Names - mark this to automatically remove any accents from employee names when generating STP Pay Events. For example, an employee with the name Désirée will be changed to Desiree to ensure validation doesn’t fail.


       

  5. Click Next >

  6. On the Review Allowance Types step, go through the list of Allowance Types listed and make sure the STP v2 Type Code and STP v2 Other Description are set (if applicable). For more information please see STP v2 Allowance Types.

  7. Click Next > through to the Confirm & Save step

  8. Click Finish to complete setup and save the changes

  9. Repeat the above steps for all other Branches you would like to enable STP v2 to for.