On 1 July, the minimum wage increased by 3% and penalty rates in a number of awards were adjusted. These changes could affect both permanent and casual employees.

The introduction of Single Touch Payroll (STP) also means significant changes in the way income is reported and tax returns are lodged this year. We’ve summarised the changes and put together a handy guide below, so both employers and employees know exactly how they may be affected.

Employers

• If you’re already reporting using STP, you do not need to issue your employees a payment summary (now called an income statement)
• Advise your employees that they can access their income statement through their myGov account
• Update your accounting software to automatically update the tax tables for 2019-2020
• Visit the Fair Work website to obtain the current pay rates for your employees, and then manually input these into your accounting program. The web address is calculate.fairwork.gov.au. Head to Pay Calculator and follow the links to find the relevant award and hourly rates
• We highly recommend that you subscribe to the Fair Work website to receive notifications of any changes and amendments. Visit fairwork.gov.au and follow the link in the footer that says ‘Subscribe to email updates’

Employees

• If you get paid the minimum wage, or work under certain awards, your pay rate may have changed. You can check this by accessing the Fair Work website at calculate.fairwork.gov.au and inputting all the relevant information. Note that if you get paid above the minimum wage, your pay rate may not have changed
• Ask your employer if they are using STP. If not, they will issue you a payment summary (now called income statement). If they are, you will need to access your income statement via myGov, the government’s online portal for Centrelink, Medicare and the ATO. To set up an account, visit my.gov.au and follow the links to ‘Create an account’
• If you are registered to have your tax return completed by a tax agent, your income statement will be available directly to them via the ATO. You won’t need to access myGov for tax purposes
• If you have more than 1 employer, make sure you let your tax agent know that you are expecting more than 1 income statement. If your tax return is lodged too soon you may need to lodge an amendment
• Allow sufficient time for your employer to process your income statements – they are required by law to have these to you by 14 July 2019

TJL’s Accounting team are available to advise on any of your business or personal taxation needs. Please call our offices to schedule an appointment if you require assistance.