EOFY Obligations and Tips for Employers

The EOFY is fast approaching, and as employers there are a number of obligations that you must meet before 30 June 2018.

Along with your compliance and legal obligations, the EOFY marks an important time where employers can assess the year that was and plan for the new financial year, complete bookkeeping, tax returns, as well as conduct employee performance reviews.

Key dates include:

• Providing your employees with a 2018 PAYG payment summary by 14 July;
• Lodging a PAYG withholding annual report by 14 August; and
• Paying quarterly superannuation contributions by 28 July (*to be eligible for a deduction for super, in the 2017/18 financial year you will need to pay prior to 30 June.

PAYG payment summary

Employers must provide employees with a payment summary outlining how much they were paid for the financial year and the total withheld from these payments, even if the amount withheld was nil.

Make sure you also send your annual payment summary report to the ATO at the same time that you send it to your employers.

Paying super before EOFY

To be eligible for a deduction for super, it also must be paid by the due dates – even though you don’t need to pay your June quarter super until 28th July, you will not get to claim a deduction for it unless it is paid prior 30 June. If paid between 30th June and 28th July, it is deductible in the following financial year.

For the super to be considered ‘paid’ it is must actually appear in the employee’s superannuation account – you will need to allow for up to 3 business days for processing.

Wages

 Are you using the current tax rates on wages from 1 July? The latest tax rates can be found on the ATO website.

Have you checked for wage increases on the awards your staff are employed under for the first full pay period after 1 July?*

* On 6th June 2017, the Fair Work Commission handed down its annual wage review decision for 2017, which applies to all employees covered by modern awards and enterprise awards, as well as award-free employees. As a result, Fair Work Commission approved a 3.3% increase on minimum wages to $18.29 an hour.

Further compliance and record keeping to consider

• a summary of income and expenses in a profit and loss statement
• conducting a stocktake. You can learn more about stocktakes on the ATO website
• Completion of your BAS statement (if applicable) by June 30 (if you are a registered company you’ll also need to submit your annual report to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission along with your solvency declaration.
• lodging yearly reports or returns for PAYG withholding, fringe benefits tax (FBT), Goods and Services Tax (GST), and the taxable payments reporting system
• summaries of your record of debtors and creditors
• collating records of asset purchases or expenditure on improvements to calculate depreciation expense claims and for capital gains tax purposes
• completing and lodging income tax returns

Other non-compliance and legal requirements

• Review and update marketing, business, and communications strategies and structure
• Sit down with your accountant / bookkeeper / business strategist and review your finances and business model / strategy
• Assess your goals and values
• Review your business insurance (have you thoroughly read the PDS to see what you are covered by?)
• Back up your files and assess your security
• Assess and review if necessary your work-place health and safety practices
• Make yourself familiar with the changes to super in the 2018/19 Budget? What affect will they have on you and your employees?
• Review staff salaries and awardsCheck and update your employee details – many employees move, change positions and having current details can minimise time wasted with questions from employees during this already busy time.