On the May 24 2018, Kelly O’Dwyer, the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services announced the commencement of a 12 month Superannuation Guarantee Amnesty (the Amnesty).
This is a one-off opportunity for employers to correct past super guarantee non-compliance without facing penalty.
Subject to the passage of legislation, the amnesty will run for twelve months from 24 May 2018.
Any employer who voluntarily discloses their previously undeclared Superannuation Guarantee (SG) shortfalls during the Amnesty and before the commencement of an audit of their SG will:
Employers must pay all employee entitlements, including the unpaid SG amounts owed to employees and the nominal interest, as well as any associated general interest charge (GIC). Outsourcing to a managed payroll provider such as ours means you will remain compliant against your obligations.
The Amnesty applies to previously undeclared SG shortfalls for any period from 1 July 1992 up to 31 March 2018. The Amnesty does not apply to the period starting on 1 April 2018 or subsequent periods.
Any employer who is not up-to-date with their superannuation guarantee payment obligations to their employees and who don’t come forward during this Amnesty may be subject to higher penalties in the future – generally, a minimum of 50% on top of the SG charged owed, O’Dwyer said. As a managed payroll service, we provide the option of paying super to your employees – correct and on-time, every time.
If you can pay the full SG amount directly to your employees’ super fund(s) then you can complete a payment form and submit to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) through their electronic business portal.
If you find that you are unable to pay the full amount, then you can complete and lodge a payment form wherein the ATO will contact you to discuss a payment plan. You can start payment before the ATO contacts you and this will reduce the GIC you would have to pay.
For more information visit the ATO’s website – https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Super-for-employers/Superannuation-Guarantee-Amnesty/
Outsourcing payroll allows businesses and business owners more time to focus on other productive and value-adding business functions. With regular legislative and regulation changes, doing your payroll ‘in-house’ can be a complicated function of your business. Australia has one of the most complex payroll environments in the world and as a result, requires more than just push-of-a-button-software. Outsourcing your business’ payroll to professionals who are up-to-date with forever changing Government regulations can quickly and effectively save you time, money and a whole lot of heartache. PaysOnline’s Best Practice Solution provides all you need (and more) to efficiently run your payroll.
Benefits of outsourcing your payroll to an Australian company.
Time is a Critical Resource
Payroll is critical to business, and as your business grows, “in-house” payroll processing can quickly drain valuable employee resources. It’s easy to understand how time can be saved by outsourcing the payroll function when you consider time spent on compliance issues, Government regulations, staff training and ensuring integrated systems perform correctly. PaysOnline utilises custom-built cloud-based technology and integrated hardware to help your business across key areas such as Talent Management, Rostering, Time and Attendance, Payroll and Business Intelligence. Outsourcing payroll to PaysOnline gives your employees more control through a self-service portal, which allows you to focus your energy on the business rather than on managing data entry.
Reduce Risk and Associated Costs
Hiring a full-time staff member to deal only with the company payroll is a large company expense. Research conducted by PwC has shown that for large organisations, operating payroll internally typically costs $1400 per employee, per year, and nearly $2000 per employee, per year for medium organisations. Costs are affected by factors such as employing an accountant or accounts team, training costs, investing in payroll software and making sure your network and systems are secure.
Payroll is a highly regulated area of business and relying solely on the knowledge of someone who is not experienced in payroll legislation puts your business at risk of severe penalties. Rather than having to pay an “in-house” annual salary, outsourcing payroll to PaysOnline will mean you only pay a low ‘cost per employee’ and receive the knowledge and expertise of an entire Australian-based team.
Improved Security and Increased Transparency
Containing extremely lucrative and sensitive data, payroll has become the target of criminal activity in recent years. The threats to your data are internal and external and include things such as employees accessing personal data to engage in identity theft, tampering with information for personal gain and hackers gaining access through security flaws. Ensuring your data is kept securely is paramount and this kind of environment can prove costly.
PaysOnline’s client data is encrypted both in-transit and while at rest. We utilise top-tier Australian web and data hosting provider Amazon Web Services; the same provider used by the Australian Government. Our system is built to withstand and detect both internal and external attacks. You can trust that your information will be safe with PaysOnline and our payroll specialists.
Access to Compliance Support
Payroll and compliance go hand in hand. Completing your payroll internally requires those in charge to remain up-to-date with ever changing government regulations and legislation. Accidental or not, errors or misjudgements made by payroll staff are subject to substantial Government penalties where the business owner can be personally responsible both legally and financially. Regardless of how many years your pay staff have been running payroll, unless they’re trained professionals you run the risk breaching your compliance obligations. Outsourcing payroll to PaysOnline means a particular focus is payroll management – we understand the ins-and-outs of payroll and all that comes with it. Our team of payroll specialists can assist you and your business in remaining compliant.
Value Adding Products and Functionality
Outsourcing doesn’t only mean payroll. PaysOnline offers much more than just payroll services. We’ve been refining our Best Practice Solution for more than two decades and have developed a solution for your business across areas such as Talent Management, Time and Attendance, Rostering, Payroll, and Business Intelligence. By outsourcing your business’ payroll to PaysOnline, you can also take advantage of our total workforce management options.
PaysOnline’s Best Practice Solution provides you peace of mind and guarantees to make payroll stresses a thing of the past.
Request a meeting with us today to discuss a solution tailored to your business.
You may have heard about Single Touch Payroll recently and be wondering what you need to do to get ready for it. Rest assured PaysOnline have you covered and are currently developing our systems to be ready for the start of Single Touch Payroll from 1 July 2018.
Single Touch Payroll is a reporting change for employers. It is an initiative being introduced by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to provide real time visibility over the accuracy and timeliness of organisations’ payroll processes.
It means employers will report payments such as salaries and wages, pay as you go (PAYG) withholding and super information to the Australian Taxation Office directly from their payroll solution at the same time they pay their employees.
Ultimately, Single Touch Payroll will enable the ATO to determine whether employers have complied with PAYG withholding and Superannuation Guarantee Charge obligations. It is also likely to increase the amount of compliance activity (particularly for superannuation guarantee charge), as well as the speed at which the commissioner reacts to any breach of the requirements.
How does Single Touch Payroll benefit employers?
The main benefits for employers with single touch payroll are that it will streamline the process of reporting to the ATO by being able to submit payroll information at the completion of each payroll. By doing this, the ATO will be able to prefill the BAS (W1 and W2) for employers, eliminating potential errors and double handling.
How will this affect my payroll?
Nothing will change in how you process your payroll. The only thing that is tweaked is that after each “payroll event” your payroll provider will need to send some additional reporting information to the ATO.
If you’re not outsourcing your payroll to PaysOnline and need to be STP compliant, make sure to ask your vendor what steps they’re taking to update your products.
The Australian Tax Office has also released a statement to clarify further details about Single Touch Payroll which you can find here – Setting the record straight on Single Touch Payroll.
PaysOnline will also keep you up-to-date as changes happen so be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn for further updates.
Cracking down on dodgy bosses
Payroll is the platform in which employers are able to compensate their hardworking employees. However, doing it correctly comes with a long list prerequisites to adhere too to ensure that you’re remaining compliant or not. PaysOnline is a managed payroll provider, which gives clients access to custom-built advanced technology that is backed by experts who can help when you need it the most. Outsourcing your company’s payroll to a managed payroll provider means you can do away with payroll stresses and focus on the core of your business.
The Turnbull Government has today introduced legislation to protect vulnerable workers and crack down on unscrupulous bosses who break the law.
The Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill 2017 delivers on an election commitment to ensure workers are protected from exploitative and unfair practices in the workplace.
“Last year, all decent Australians would have been appalled at video footage of young 7-Eleven workers being led to an ATM and forced to hand back part of their wages in cash,” Minister Cash said.
“We’ve also been appalled at recent revelations of systematic underpayment of employees by some franchisees of well-known pizza chains.”
“While this does not represent the vast majority of Australian business owners who work hard, follow the rules, create jobs and provide the backbone of our economy, such cases have shown existing laws lack teeth and need to be strengthened.”
The Government say the Bill will help deter, catch and punish unscrupulous bosses and protect responsible employers, by:
This means that those who are complicit or wilfully blind to underpayments in their network will be responsible for rectifying those underpayments.
The new laws build on steps already taken by the Coalition Government to stop visa laws being abused and foreign workers being underpaid.
They’ve made it a criminal offence for employers to solicit or receive a payment in exchange for a visa sponsorship and now require a valid payslip as proof of lawfully paid work before a second working holiday visa can be granted to a temporary migrant worker.
Minister Cash said, “A strong employment system requires all parties to abide by fair rules. . Importantly, this legislation is targeted at those who deliberately set out to do the wrong thing. The new increased penalties and liability provisions will not impact the vast majority of employers who do the right thing, or who simply make honest mistakes.”
By outsourcing your payroll to a managed payroll provider such as PaysOnline you can rest assured that we will be helping you to remain compliant and fulfil your obligations as an employer.
Stay compliant! Contact PaysOnline today for more information on our best practice payroll solution!
(Source: Michaelia Cash, Minister for Employment)
Payroll is an integral part of business and it is especially important to get it correct as its main function is to compensate your hard working employees. Australia has one of the most complex payroll environments, which means there are a number of factors to consider when deciding to outsource payroll or to do it in-house. Here are six benefits of outsourcing payroll to a managed payroll company such as PaysOnline.
1. Save Money
According to a Price Waterhouse Cooper’s White Paper commissioned in January 2011, businesses that manage payroll, HR functions and time & attendance in-house spend on average 18% more administering these functions than organisations who outsource these functions.
2. Save Time
Time spent on calculating pays, deductions and remitting payments to employees and the ATO can be eliminated by utilizing an outsourced payroll provider. By outsourcing these functions, an organisation can better utilize their resources and labour throughout their business.
3. Avoid Penalties
Penalties can occur due to late submissions of end of year returns, late payments of PAYG taxes, incorrect payments to employees, incorrect information shown on employee’s payslips and substandard reporting of hours worked by employees. An integrated time & attendance system combined with a reputable payroll service provider can eliminate these unnecessary penalties.
4. Better Reliability
By outsourcing your payroll, you will effectively have a team of payroll professionals on hand to assist with any urgent matters with regards to your payroll. This is a huge benefit to businesses, as their payroll expertise doesn’t leave when the payroll person does.
5. Reduce Risk
Sensitive payroll information and data can put a company’s reputation at risk if it falls into the wrong hands. By outsourcing your payroll to a reputable organisation, you can be rest assured that the data is stored securely, using the same level of security as your everyday internet banking.
6. Reduce The Pain
Financial aspects such as payroll processing quite often, ends up being done by those whose main tasks are everything but (HR managers doing the payroll – sound familiar?) Payroll processing can become an unwelcome – but necessary – distraction.
Outsourcing payroll to PaysOnline will give you the peace of mind you deserve. Contact us today for a customised solution fit for your business.
