STP2 Total Gross Figure and Salary Sacrifice

Ll01

After implementation of STP2 at the beginning of July, Total Gross figure shown at the top of the Single Touch Payroll page was Total Gross before deducting salary sacrifice. I understand this to be correct as salary sacrifice under STP2 is now shown separately. After each weekly pay run, we check to make sure the figure reconciles with the Total Gross Wages in our payroll report. However, last week the Total Gross figure in STP suddenly reverted to Adjusted Gross i.e. total gross less salary sacrifice. I have no idea why it has done that when we have not made any changes to the payroll other than to run the normal weekly pays. Hoping someone can help solve the mystery.

JandCLegh

I have had exactly the same issue. Is there a fix for it. My tax tracking all looks correct so I am at a loss.

Robyn Kelly (Partner)

I think you'll find this information should answer your query:

https://community.reckon.com/discussion/8034112/important-info-for-reckon-accounts-hosted-2023-bug-fixes

JandCLegh

Thanks Robyn. So am I to conclude that the STP file Gross should now be the adjusted gross amount, exclusive of Salary Sacrifice amounts.

Robyn Kelly (Partner)

That would be a question for @Rav as I am not sure without looking it up what the ATO requirements are and what Reckon have intended on the GovConnect upload.

Ll01

Thank you for your comments @JandCLegh and @Robyn Kelly (Partner). The screenshot below shows the Total Gross which is now the Adjusted Gross as of beginning of the week 28 August. It was total gross before salary sacrifice adjustment before this week.

Yet I just checked Reckon support notes and it still says that the Gross should be the full gross amount without reducing Salary Sacrifice.

I don't know if the bug fix to W1 on BAS somehow affected the way the gross payments are tracked for STP. I didn't think so but then the timing of it is strange.

Rav

Hi @Ll01

Just wanted to clear up some of the confusion around the total gross amount that appears during the STP export process now that STP Phase 2 has kicked in. 

Since the start of Single Touch Payroll (STP) in 2018, we have been sending Employer Data as well as Employee Data via STP submissions.

• Employer Data includes a total gross and total PAYG for the pay run. This data is included so the ATO can prefill the W1 and W2 fields in the BAS.
• Employee Data includes the Year to Date (YTD) breakdown of the employee’s pays which is used for completing their Income Statement.

During the lodgment process, we display the total gross & PAYG that is being sent as part of the Employer Data in the Export STP window, as well as GovConnect, so that users can see (and verify) the amounts that are going to be used by the ATO for the BAS Prefill.

• In STP Phase 1, Salary Sacrifice was linked to gross wages, so both the Employer and Employee gross amounts would be the reduced gross (after Salary Sacrifice).
• Under STP Phase 2 however, the Salary Sacrifice component has been disaggregated out of the gross amount for the employee record ONLY. The Employer record will still show the balance of total gross AFTER Salary Sacrifice

With our initial release we incorrectly removed the Salary Sacrifice amount from the Employer Data, this meant that the total gross was now showing the pre-Salary Sacrificed amounts. This caused the BAS Prefill to be incorrect. We have now made the relevant change so that the Employer Data has the correct amount for BAS Prefill (the amount after Salary Sacrifice) in the new release that Robyn has linked to above.

Hope that helps to clarify, if you have any questions please let us know 🙂

Ll01

Hi @Rav

Thanks for your reply. From your explanation, this means that the Total Gross showing in the STP export is the Employer Data which is now correctly showing as Total Gross After Salary Sacrifice i.e. Adjusted Gross. I have nothing to worry about 😅

Annette_8328831

@Rav I adjusted the Gross wages when preparing my Activity Statement as I thought there was an error with the Salary Sacrifice not being included in the gross. Should I go back in to ato online services and change it back to take off the salary sacrifice from the gross?

Acctd4

Hi @Annette_8328831

Yes, W1 has always been - & should be - reporting "Amounts that are subject to withholding" (PAYG)

SS/RESC is specifically deducted BEFORE withholding which is why it's not included:

https://www.ato.gov.au/Forms/PAYG-withholding---how-to-complete-your-activity-statement-labels/#W1Totalsalarywagesandotherpayments

😊

Annette_8328831

https://community.reckon.com/discussion/comment/20639965#Comment_20639965

Thanks Shaz @Acctd4, you're the BEST! 😘

I was confused when the July Gross included SS when preparing the STP2 submission. I have now changed it. Thanks again!

Acctd4

Good to hear @Annette_8328831! ☺️

Lynn_9731533

I have this problem too. The July and August Gross STP included Salary Sacrifice. This of course was lodged through Gov Connect. I didn't change a thing, and September's STP does not include Salary Sacrifice. I have spent one full day trying to fix it. Was this a glitch in the July and August STP lodgement, and should I do July and August again and lodge as a Replacement File through Gov Connect?

Acctd4

Hi @Lynn_9731533

No, this change is correct going forward, following the automatic patch fix update ☺️

It’s been reverted back to the (original STP1) reporting for Total Gross as the “Adjusted Gross” (eg less SS amount)

This is because the ATO have commenced prefilling W1(& W2) data on the BAS/IAS from this specific figure.

Lynn_9731533

Thanks Shaz. Okay, I will just lodge September STP without the S/S in the Total Gross.

Acctd4

Yes, this is now correct 👍🏻