Single Touch Payroll (STP) processing 108-24103143

The EMCF screen shows the:

• STP Employer Update table
• Employment Income data table

STP Employer Update table fields:

• Action: an edit and delete button show when in the STP Employer Update or Earnings and Reporting workflows
• Record Status: the status of the STP employer details:
• Confirmed (default status)
• Unconfirmed
• Provisional
• STP Employer Name: shows the employer’s registered business name
• ABN: shows the employer’s 11 digit Australian Business Number (ABN) or 9 digit Withholding Payer Number (WPN)
• Status: shows the status of the employer/customer relationship:
• Confirmed (CNF): customer confirms they are working for or paid by that employer
• Rejected (REJ): customer advises they do not work for or get paid by that employer
• Auto-matched (AUT): system has automatically matched the pre-filled employer’s ABN/WPN with that of an existing employer’s ABN/WPN from the Employment Income Summary (EANS) screen (auto-matching no longer occurs, but this status may still show)
• Blank: the customer has not reviewed the pre-filled employer’s details
• Submitted On: the date of the last update to the Record Status. This may also revert to the previous update date if re-confirming the status as part of a correction
• Linked Employer: the name of the employer the pre-filled STP details have been linked with. This may be:
• an existing employer that has been matched by the ABN
• a known employer that the customer has selected from their employer list
• a new employer entry added by the customer

Note: if either of the Status, Submitted On or Linked Employer fields are blank, the STP Employer Update workflow must be run to re-confirm the employer status. See Item 3

Employment Income data table:

• A view only reference table of existing employers from the EANS screen
• Select the twisty of the relevant employers to view income on the Event of Earnings (EAN) table to help discuss the correct employer to link to. The income displayed is the apportioned amount calculated for each of the customer’s relevant reporting periods. See Assessment of employment income for Centrelink payments

When unconfirmed STP employer data is available at the time a customer reports, the EMCF screen will show in the Earnings and Reporting workflow.

Service Officers must discuss the pre-filled details with the customer and either confirm or reject the employer details. See Item 3.

If the customer:

• confirms the STP employer, the EMCF screen is not shown again in future reports, unless STP data is available for another employer
• rejects the STP employer and STP data is available in the next reporting period, the STP employer details are pre-filled again for the customer to review
• rejects the STP employer a second time, the STP employer’s details will not pre-fill again and an STP Intervention is generated for further investigation by trained Service Officers. See Single Touch Payroll (STP) interventions. Note: this will only occur where a customer rejects the STP employer when reporting in self service channels

Before STP employment income can pre-fill for customers and Service Officers, a confirmed STP employer status is needed with completed Status, Confirmed On and Linked Employer fields on the EMCF screen.

The standalone STP Employer Update workflow can be used to confirm or reject a new STP employer or update an existing STP employer’s record status. Service Officers can also make the same updates on the EMCF screen when using the Earnings and Reporting workflow.

• Key START into the Super Key
• Select the STP Employer Update workflow from Task Selector
• Select Start
• On the EMCF screen, select Edit to launch the STP Employer Update window
• Select Confirmed or Rejected from the Status drop down:
• If confirming, the Employer drop down list will display all current employers from the Employment Income Summary (EANS) screen
• Select the relevant existing employer’s name or select New Employer from the menu, then Save. Selecting Cancel will go back to the original screen
• If linking as a New Employer, it will pre-fill to the Employment Income Paid Details (EAPP) table with a:
  pay event date using the date of event (DOV) as the Entitlement Period Start Day (EPSD) that the update is being made, or claim date and
  gross amount of 0.00
• When selecting Save, a Receipt Date and Channel window shows. Complete the details and select Save
• The EMCF screen will show the provisional updates. Check the details are correct, then select Next to continue
• The EANS screen will show the updated employer with Employer Verification field as STP
• Select Assess and Finalise the task

If the STP employer status is rejected and STP data is available when the customer next reports, the STP employer’s details will show again for the customer to review. If the customer rejects the employer through self-service a second time, an STP intervention activity will be created for follow up by trained staff.

Customers making an online claim may be presented with STP employer details that have previously been confirmed. If the customer rejects this employer within their online claim, there will be no change to the confirmed status on the EMCF screen. Staff should not update the confirmed status to rejected. See Single Touch Payroll (STP) in Centrelink claims.

Note: when an STP employer has been confirmed and linked to an existing employer from the EANS screen, the pre-filled Australian Business Number (ABN) will override the Employer ABN field of the linked employer. The ABN field of the STP verified employer will become greyed out and unable to be updated from the EANS screen.

If an incorrect employer was linked, run the STP Employer Update workflow to update the STP employer status to rejected. This will remove the overridden pre-filled ABN. When the activity is complete, the Employer ABN field of the incorrectly linked employer will revert to its previous status. The STP Employer Update workflow may need to be run again to re-confirm the STP employer and link the correct employer from the existing employer list or select New Employer.

An update to an existing STP employer status may be required when:

• a customer contacts to correct their previous rejection of an STP employer
• an existing employer on the customer’s record was incorrectly linked to the STP employer
• a fix is required to resolve errors when multiple employer entries are recorded on the Employment Income Summary (EANS) screen (STP and non-STP) for the same employer and Australian Business Number (ABN)/Withholding Payer Number (WPN) that prevents the customer from reporting in self service
• the previously confirmed STP employer status appears incomplete, for example the Status, Confirmed On and/or Linked Employer fields are blank

The STP Employer Update workflow must be run to either confirm or reject the STP employer status. See details in Item 3.

Note: if the workflow is run to reject an incorrectly linked employer, the workflow must be run again to re-confirm and link to the correct employer. Service Officers cannot reject and confirm in the same transaction. Each action must be completed separately before the next action can occur.

Additional steps are required when confirmed STP income has been mapped to the incorrectly linked employer. See Process > Table 2 > Item 7 in Single Touch Payroll (STP) troubleshooting.

Note: if E009EA or E016CQ errors occur, refer to Process > Table 2 > Item 3 in Single Touch Payroll (STP) troubleshooting.

STP data can only be retrieved for a confirmed STP employer using the Earnings and Reporting workflow in Process Direct or when customers report using self-service channels. Where Service Officers complete a customer’s report using Customer First, any STP data available with a Date Paid in the reporting period is not retrieved. STP pay events reported by the employer can only be accessed on the EMGI screen in Process Direct. This information is displayed across 3 levels of tables where each level provides more details. To access each level of data, select the twisty next to each row.

Pre-filled STP data cannot be deleted on the EMGI screen, however it can be adjusted when using the Earnings and Reporting workflow. Information can only be edited on the Income Details table at the third level. If Service Officers do not use the workflow, this screen will have view only access.

A high level view of total gross employment income details that have been reported for a certain period. If using the Earnings and Reporting workflow to complete a report or to update past periods, the STP income reported in the reporting period(s) or past periods will show one reporting period at a time. Otherwise, if not using a workflow, the first level shows the sum of all retrieved STP data in the date range selected.

This table includes the following fields:

• STP Employer Name: the registered business name with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO)
• ABN: the 11 digit Australian Business Number (ABN) or 9 digit Withholding Payer Number (WPN) of the employer
• Linked Employer: the name of the matched employer from the customer’s existing employer list on the Employment Income Summary (EANS) screen
• Gross STP Income: total gross income reported by the STP employer
• Gross Income Reported: the total gross income paid that is confirmed by the customer. If the customer has not made any changes, this figure will be the same as the Gross STP Income
• Income Variation: this indicates if the employer reported Gross STP Income has been adjusted. It will show as either Upward varied, Downward varied or Not varied
• Reporting Period Start Date: the start day of the Services Australia reporting period (Entitlement Period Start Day (EPSD))
• Reporting Period End Date: the end day of the Services Australia reporting period (Entitlement Period End Day (EPED))

A view of the individual STP pay events paid within a reporting period or past periods. Where a customer is paid weekly, there may be 2 pay events to view for each reporting period or when updating a past period. Otherwise, if not using a workflow, it shows all retrieved pay events in the date range selected.

This table includes the following fields:

• Action: the edit/pencil option is currently deactivated
• Pay Event Accepted: Yes/No advises if the customer has accepted the pay details, with or without changes
• Pay Event Date: this is the date employment income was paid, as advised by the employer (not necessarily the date the income was received by the customer). See Determining the Date of Event for employment income
• Pay Period Start Date: the start date of the employer’s pay period
• Pay Period End Date: the end date of the employer’s pay period
• Gross STP Income: total gross income reported by the STP employer
• Gross Income Reported: the total gross income confirmed by the customer. If the customer has not made any changes, this figure will be the same as the Gross STP Income
• Commencement Date: the employer reported date of when the employee commenced work
• Employment Status: full-time, part time, casual, contract or labour hire
• Cessation Date: the employer reported date that the employee ceased work
• Cessation Reason: the employer reported reason of why the employee ceased work
• Record Status: a default status of Confirmed

A detailed view of the individual pay components that have been reported for each pay event within a reporting period/s or past periods.

This table includes the following fields:

• Action: the Edit/Pencil icon is selected to edit the data
• Record Status: a default status of Confirmed
• Wage item: the type of wage item that has been paid, for example, Salary and Wages, Reportable Fringe Benefits Amount
• Component: the sub-category of the wage item. For example, gross income, paid leave, overtime
• Sub-component: more detail about the component. For example, unused leave on termination, other paid leave. More information may be needed about the income for certain sub-components
• Additional information: this field is used to record additional information from the customer about certain sub-components. For example, Other Allowance, Qualification Allowance and Reportable Fringe Benefits (RFB). This response determines whether the sub-component is assessable income. See Table 6 for details about the additional information required
• RFB Free Acco or Avg. Weekly Wage: this field records the value of accommodation as part of Fringe Benefits, if applicable, or the average weekly wage of the customer’s recent income when paid a redundancy payment after ceasing employment
• STP Income Received: gross income of the pay component reported by the STP employer. Note: when a customer adds a pay component that did not pre-fill, this field will show as 0.00
• Income Reported: the gross income amount of each pay component confirmed by the customer. When the customer adjusts the pre-filled STP data amount, it will be different to the STP Income Received amount. Note: when a customer adds a pay component that did not pre-fill, this will show the amount the customer has added
• Adjusted Period Start Date: adjusted employer pay period start date that the customer has provided. This is required when paid leave or lump sum payments are reported. See Table 6 for more information
• Adjusted Period End Date: adjusted employer pay period end date that the customer has provided. This is required when paid leave or lump sum payments are reported. See Table 6 for more information
• Used in PayPP Calculation: Yes/No. Indicates if a pay component is assessable. If not assessable, the pay component is not included in the data mapped to the Employment Income Paid Details (EAPP) table. For example, some allowances. See Resources in Single Touch Payroll (STP) for details
• Amount Mapped to: where income is assessable, this field advises where the confirmed income is coded, either the EAPP table or Income Maintenance Period Summary (IMPS) screen. Otherwise, it will be blank for a component that is not assessable

Going to EMGI outside of a workflow will only show STP pay events that have been retrieved. STP data is retrieved for a confirmed employer when:

• a customer reports through self service, or
• a Service Officer has used the Earnings and Reporting workflow in Process Direct, and
• STP data was available at the time

To refresh the view of retrieved STP data, enter the required date range in the From and To fields. Select search to view all STP data in the relevant period.

There may be times where EMGI does not show any or only some pay events. This may be because:

• the employer has since been rejected on the STP Employer Update (EMCF) screen
• Service Officers have completed earlier reporting tasks using Customer First
• STP data was not available at the time the reporting task was actioned
• STP data was available but did not pre-fill to the customer, for example, data anomalies, non-Earnings from Employment (EAR) employers, partner reported on behalf of the customer. See Process > Table 3 > Item 4 in Single Touch Payroll (STP) troubleshooting

To check if other STP data is available, Service Officers must run the Earnings and Reporting workflow and select Yes to Do you want to update income for a past period? to retrieve the STP pay events.

If an employer was previously rejected, Service Officers will need to manually go to the EMCF screen first, confirm the STP employer and then manually go to the EMGI screen. See Item 3.

If an STP employer has been rejected, STP data will not be available for review on the EMGI screen. It also will not pre-fill in a reporting task even when the Earnings and Reporting workflow shows that STP data is present.

To view the available STP data when actioning a reporting task or after selecting Yes at Update past periods, manually navigate to the STP Employer Update (EMCF) screen. Edit the STP employer status to confirmed, select Save and then Next to go to the EMGI screen.

If updating past periods, manually navigate to the EMGI screen to view the pay event details. Repeat for each past period that has been selected.

Alternatively, if the customer confirms the employer verbally or by providing pay slips, use the standalone STP Employer Update workflow to change the rejected status to confirmed and finalise the workflow. Then use the Earnings and Reporting workflow to retrieve the STP data by selecting the relevant periods from Update past periods. See Item 4.

To check if STP data is available, Service Officers must run the Earnings and Reporting workflow to Update Past Periods:

• Answer Yes to Do you want to update income for a past period? and enter the date range to query
• Select Search. The Past Period Range table will show Yes in the STP data present field for any reporting periods that STP data is available
• Select the box(es) next to the reporting periods required, then Next. The workflow will progress to EMGI and show the STP pay events for the customer to review, one entitlement period at a time

See Recording and correcting employment income details for detailed processing instructions.

Discuss the retrieved STP data with the customer, including adjusting and/or adding to the STP pay events, if needed. Confirm the STP income and update/delete any previously reported income on the Employment Income Paid Details (EAPP) table for the now confirmed STP pay event. See Table 4 > Item 8 for more information.

If the customer has previously rejected the STP employer, Service Officers must change the status to Confirmed, before being able to retrieve STP pay events.

Consider:

• If the customer now recognises the rejected STP employer, the employer must be confirmed first, using the STP Employer Update workflow. The Earnings and Reporting workflow must then be run to retrieve all STP pay events in past reporting periods, using the steps in Item 3 above
• If the customer still does not recognise the rejected STP employer’s name, Service Officers must provisionally confirm the rejected STP employer to allow retrieval of the STP. Staff will need to run the Earnings and Reporting workflow, following the instructions in Item 3 above, and:
• Manually navigate to the STP Employer Update (EMCF) screen and provisionally confirm the STP employer
  key ‘EMGI’ in the Super Key field and select Next
• Review the STP pay event(s) with the customer
• Repeat this process for each reporting period, re-confirming the STP employer on the EMCF screen each time, so all pay events can be reviewed with the customer

Note: check the STP employment start date field on the EMGI screen, the date when employment income was first reported by the employer via STP and when/if the customer first reported income on the EAPP table. If there is a gap in the data, payslips will be required.

DOC the record carefully.

Where STP data is available at the time a customer reports, it may pre-fill in the reporting task in all self service channels:

• Centrelink online account
• Express Plus Centrelink mobile app
• Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

Where STP data is available to pre-fill in an online report, the reporting task becomes a 2-step process for customers:

• STP confirmation service, and
• Report employment income (REI) service

Once the customer selects the online reporting task, a ‘Before you report’ message shows to advise the customer there are details reported by their employer. The customer then enters the STP confirmation service to review the pre-filled information.

The first time STP data is available, the customer is asked whether they work for the employer. They must review the STP employer’s name and Australian Business Number (ABN) / Withholding Payer Number (WPN) and advise Yes or No to confirm or reject the employer. Refer customers to the Services Australia website for further assistance, see Resources. Once the STP employer is confirmed, the STP confirmation service progresses to show any STP employment income paid in the entitlement period.

Depending on how many STP employers reported employment income paid to the customer and how often they were paid in the reporting period, will determine the number of pay events that may pre-fill in the customer’s report. STP pay events will be displayed one after the other in the STP confirmation service and be numbered so the customer knows the total number of pay events to be reviewed. For example, Pay 1 of 1, or Pay 1 of 2 and Pay 2 of 2. Where a customer has more than one STP employer all STP pay events available will display in the one STP confirmation service flow.

Customers have full control over the STP data pre-filled in their reporting task. They can adjust the pre-filled details and/or add pay components that have not pre-filled yet, if required (see Item 3), before confirming the STP employment details and continuing with their report. Customers must check their payslips if they are unsure about the pre-filled details.

When a customer selects Submit and continue at the end of the STP confirmation service, they are confirming their STP data. Customers have multiple opportunities during the STP confirmation service to edit and add to the pre-filled STP data, if needed. If the customer needs to make changes to the confirmed data after selecting Submit and continue, they cannot go back to make changes. If the customer realises that a separate pay event did not pre-fill from their STP employer, the customer can add this in the second part of their report.

Notes:

• Customers are not able to add pay events paid by non-STP employers in the STP confirmation service
• Customers can select edit or add pay to update a provisional STP component or to add a pay component to the pre-filled STP pay event
• Where a pay event has not pre-filled, they can select Yes to add pay to add the missing pay date details and select the pay components to match their payslip
• When the customer selects Submit and continue to confirm the STP income details online, the data is automatically applied to the Employment Income Paid Details (EAPP) table or Income Maintenance Period Summary (IMPS) screen
• Hours worked are not included in the STP data
• If an STP pay event paid in the reporting period is not available at the time the customer reports, the pay event will not pre-fill in a later reporting period

The ‘Reporting tips’ message displays the first 2 times the customer enters the REI service and advises the customer how to report the correct way.

Customers will see the assessable income that was confirmed in the STP confirmation service pre-filled under My Pay. If needed, they can add the following details in the REI service:

• additional pay events paid by the STP employer
• income paid by non-STP employers
• income paid to their partner, and
• hours worked in the entitlement period, if needed

Customers are not able to change the confirmed STP employment income that shows under My Pay in the REI service.

The customer may see duplicated employment income details under My Pay where they have a partner who already completed their report and reported the customer’s employment income. The customer must select Edit to delete the income reported by their partner.

Customers have a further opportunity to review the employment income added before they accept the reporting declaration and Submit their report.

Online guides for customers and staff simulations can help with customer enquiries. See Resources for links.

When STP data is available when reporting, it has a provisional status. Customers can change the pre-filled STP details, if required, before confirming the data. It is important that customers check their payslip/s carefully if they are unsure about the pre-filled details.

Pre-filled STP data may need to be updated by the customer where the STP employer:

• has made a mistake when reporting pay components and/or amounts
• has made a correction to an amount already reported to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO)
• submits the final end of financial year (EOFY) payment summary details that incorrectly pre-fill in the reporting task

Customers can select Edit or add pay to adjust a pre-filled STP component amount (including changing it to zero). For example, they can adjust the amount of a pre-filled pay component or add an additional pay component paid in the same pay event. If a customer is paid weekly and only one pay event has pre-filled, they can select Yes to add pay and add the second weekly pay event details.

Customers are not able to declare other non-STP employment income, partner income or hours worked while in the STP confirmation service. This can be done after the STP data has been reviewed and accepted in Step 1, and the customer has continued to the REI service (Step 2) to complete their report.

Employees may have their employment status reported by their STP employer. A full-time employment status may pre-fill up to 2 times of the data first being reported. Customers can select Edit employment status to update this, if needed. Note: the definition of full-time employment is not the same for the ATO and Services Australia.

When the STP declaration is accepted, no more changes to the confirmed pre-filled STP data can be made by the customer. Customers do not need to upload payslips if they make a change to the provisional STP data, but Services Australia may ask for more information later.

When a customer reviews their STP data and selects Submit and continue in the STP confirmation service, they are unable to change the confirmed STP data through self service channels. This includes where they have not yet completed their report. If the pre-filled gross amount should have been adjusted before it was confirmed, the customer must upload evidence and contact on their regular payment line to discuss.

If a customer realises they needed to add further income details for their STP employer, they can select Add more pay under My pay in the Report employment income (REI) service. They will then be able to add pay amounts that did not pre-fill, before finalising their report.

Employment income reported in the last 6 reporting periods can be viewed by customers through self service. Once confirmed, customers are not able to change STP data in a previous report. They must contact Services Australia and give evidence of the changes (payslip/s, a payroll report or a letter from the employer) before Service Officers make any updates.

Evidence is not required where it is clear the changes are only where there has been a duplication of income. Service Officers must clearly DOC this decision and conversation with the customer.

After a customer confirms the STP data in the STP confirmation service, a message in the REI service tells the customer that pay details have been added to their record. The customer will see that only the assessable STP employment income components are populated under My pay.

If a customer contacts to query why amounts pre-filled through STP are different to what displays under My pay, Service Officers can explain how some components are not assessable and that income paid out upon termination of employment may be assessed as an Income Maintenance Period (IMP).

The IVR only manages a limited range of STP data components. This means a hand off to a Service Officer will occur if a customer calls the IVR and there are out-of-scope components reported through STP or are needing to be added for the reporting period.

The following STP data components are in scope for reporting through IVR:

• Salary and Wages
• Income Gross Amount
• Overtime Paid Amount
• Allowances
• Laundry
• Tool Allowance
• Task Allowance
• Overtime Meal Allowance
• Qualification Allowances
• Other Allowances
• Cents per kilometre
• Award Transport
• Domestic or Overseas Travel or Accommodation
• Lump Sum
• Back pay

Where a customer has components reported through STP that are not listed above, the call will be directed to a Service Officer for the Earnings and Reporting workflow to be run in Process Direct.

STP data is only available to Service Officers when using the following in Process Direct:

• Earnings and Reporting workflow
• STP Employer Update workflow
• STP Interventions workflow
• manual navigation to the STP Employer Update (EMCF) or STP Employer Wage Items (EMGI) screens (view only)

When STP data is reviewed and confirmed by the customer, it is automatically loaded onto the appropriate screens on the customer’s record.

The Employment Income Paid Details (EAPP) table will show:

• that each assessable employment income component paid in a pay event is coded separately under the one employer name
• a frequency of Long Period (LOP) with the start and end dates of the employer pay period or the duration that certain pay components were paid for (as advised by the customer). LOP is the default frequency code used for all confirmed STP income components. This does not need to be changed. See Recording and correcting employment income details for more information
• date of event (DOV) as the date the employment income was paid, as reported by the employer. See Determining the Date of Event for employment income
• a verification code of STV for confirmed STP data, or NVE for manually added income reported by the customer

Confirmed unused leave and termination payments paid when a customer ceases work are mapped to the Income Maintenance Period Summary (IMPS) screen with a verification code of STP. See Table 6 > Item 14.

If a customer contacts querying the pre-filled STP data, Service Officers can provide staff assisted reporting after providing education about reviewing and adjusting pre-filled STP data. Service Officers must use the Earnings and Reporting workflow in Process Direct to action the report. See Recording and correcting employment income details for general processing instructions.

Service Officers cannot delete STP data from the STP Employer Wage Items (EMGI) screen. If a customer advises the pre-filled STP data does not match the gross amount paid after checking their payslip(s), before accepting the income Service Officers must:

• adjust the pre-filled amount, and/or
• add any other components or pay events that have not pre-filled on EMGI as advised

Adjusting STP data may be required where:

• multiple entries of the same pay event display, for example, adjusting duplicated amounts to 0.00 so only the singular pay event remains
• the STP Date Paid is incorrect. See Process > Table 3 > Item 1 in Single Touch Payroll (STP) troubleshooting
• multiple pay events are pre-filled as a lump sum
• incorrect pay components and/or amounts are pre-filled
• the STP employer makes corrections to previously reported STP data, which impacts the PayPP calculation in the current reporting period. See Background > STP employer changes STP data reported to the ATO
• amounts have already been reported to the agency. For example, early end of financial year reporting by a previous employer
• amounts are pre-filled for a pay event paid prior to the customer or partner being in receipt of an income support payment
• a year-to-date (YTD) or payment summary amount pre-fills around the end of the financial year
• an unusually large gross income amount pre-fills, compared to other recent pay events
• a ‘pay event date’ and/or ‘pay period start and end date’ on or around 30 June
• negative income component(s) offset by identical positive income component(s) in the Income Details table on the STP Employer Wage Items (EMGI) screen
• a ‘Gross STP income’ of zero and a positive ‘Gross Income Reported’ amount in the ‘Pay Events’ table (this indicates the data was manually reported by the customer)
• an employment cessation date in the past with unused leave and/or termination payments

Service Officers must:

• discuss and clarify the requested changes to gross STP amounts with the customer, before making any updates. Check DOCs and Document Tools for any relevant evidence (for example, payslips or Employment Separation Certificate (SU001))
• tell the customer the agency may request evidence at a later date
• DOC all details of the discussion

If a customer has regular discrepancies with their pre-filled STP data:

• Service Officers must request payslips to lodge a mySupport request through 'Single Touch Payroll (STP) pre-filled employment data' request form
• the STP program monitor employer behaviour and will escalate discrepancies to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) when necessary

Service Officers must not:

• contact STP employers
• tell customers to contact their employer(s) to discuss any differences between the pre-filled STP data and the related payslip. (Where customers have questions about the payslip, they will need to talk to their employer)

Once a customer agrees with the STP data displayed in a staff assisted report, staff must select the Accept Income button to confirm the data. This action maps the confirmed employment details automatically to the Employment Income Paid Period (EAPP) table.

Where a customer advises later that a change is needed to the accepted income, and the report has not been finalised, staff must return to the STP Employer Wage Items (EMGI) screen to make the required updates.

Staff must:

• select Accept Income again after the changes are completed. Staff must take note of the updated status in the Used in PayPP Calculation field. Select Next
• check the EAPP table to ensure the new update is reflected correctly. For example, the customer changes their response about:
• an STP allowance from No (not a reimbursement) to Yes (is a reimbursement) in the Additional Information field. This will change whether the allowance is assessed as income
• the amount for an STP component, particularly when the amount is changed to 0.00
• staff may need to delete the component amount initially mapped to the EAPP table after the Yes/No response is changed or an amount is adjusted to zero
• tell the customer the agency may request evidence at a later date

Continue with the report and DOC the details of the change.

Care must be taken when reviewing the record if a customer contacts to make changes to:

• confirmed STP data, or
• they are returning contact about an STP Intervention

Note: for STP Intervention enquiries, untrained Service Officers must transfer these calls via Services Australia Workspace to the STP Intervention team. Where Services Australia Workspace is not available, transfer the customer to 1800 061 838. Procedure ends here.

Discuss with the customer why the confirmed STP data needs to be changed. Evidence must be provided (payslip/s, a payroll report or a letter from the employer) to verify the confirmed STP data was incorrect and before making any updates.

Do not manually make updates to the STP data directly on the EAPP table or IMPS screen.

All updates to STP data must be actioned in the Earnings and Reporting workflow, selecting Yes when asked Do you want to update income for a past period?

After selecting the relevant periods from the Past Period Range, the STP Employer Wage Items (EMGI) screen shows. Each reporting period will show one at a time. When the correction for the reporting period is made, select Accept Income, then Next. This action applies the changes to the Employment Income Paid Details (EAPP) table and/or Income Maintenance Period Summary (IMPS) screen.

Check the following:

• Changes on the EMGI screen are being correctly applied to the EAPP table. Where duplicated amounts have been adjusted to 0.00, the income that had mapped to the EAPP table must be deleted
• Income has not been doubled up from having STP data applied where income was originally manually coded with NVE code. Where manually coded income results in duplication of a pay event, delete the manually added entries. Any updates to cessation payments on the EMGI screen may insert a new entry on the IMPS screen. Make sure to delete the previous coding that had mapped
• Where the employer has made an update to the pay event since the pre-filled data was confirmed, there may be an additional entry that shows as Not accepted. Adjust the additional entry to 0.00 to prevent duplication

If updating multiple reporting periods, the workflow repeats until all reporting periods have been actioned.

See Recording and correcting employment income details for more information.

Where a customer has accepted pay events that have been duplicated, evidence is not required when it is clear the data has been duplicated. Service Officers must update past periods and zero out each duplicated pay component on the STP Employer Wage Items (EMGI) screen so that only the singular pay event remains.

Once Accept Income is selected, the Gross STP Income field will show the duplicated total and the Gross Income Reported field will show the correct singular total for the reporting period.

When going to the Employment Income Paid Details (EAPP) table, Service Officers must delete the duplicated components so only the singular pay event remains, as system functionality does not allow a correction of $0 to be inserted.

Note: where a partner reports first and manually reports the customer’s income, there can be the appearance of duplication of STP data after the customer confirms their STP data in their report. Where the details reported by the partner are visible to the customer in the Report employment income (REI) service (partner permitted to enquire (PPE) is YES) and the customer does not edit the income reported by the partner to zero, then both amounts will be assessed. The same issue will occur when the partner’s PPE is NO.

STP employers must make a finalisation declaration to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) when they submit their employee’s final STP data for the tax year. They do this by selecting a finalisation indicator once they have fully reported their employee’s payroll data for the financial year. The update may also include updates to previously reported data.

The EOFY payment summary details reported by an STP employer to the ATO may pre-fill in a customer’s report. Customers and Service Officers may recognise EOFY updates by:

• an unusually large gross income amount, compared to other recent pay events
• a 'pay event date' and/or ‘pay period start and end date’ on or around 30 June
• negative income component(s)
• an employment cessation date in the past, with unused leave and/or termination payments with a recent date paid
• lump sums of reportable fringe benefits amount (RFBA)
• pay components that had already been paid in the past and declared, but were not reported through STP at the time

Customers may advise they stopped working for the STP employer during the financial year, before claiming an income support payment. They may also advise the amounts that have pre-filled were paid and reported in the past.

If the customer has not accepted the STP data, the amounts must be adjusted to match the payslip, including adjusting components to 0.00 if required. Where a customer has not advised of reportable fringe benefits (RFB) arrangements previously, confirm if they had the benefit for the full RFB tax year of 1 April to 31 March. See Table 6 > Item 12.

If the customer has already accepted the STP data, check previously declared amounts on the Employment Income Paid Details (EAPP) table, DOCs and Document Tools for any relevant evidence (for example, payslips or Separation Certificate (SU001)) and talk with the customer about the confirmed STP data. If it is clear the STP data is due to the incorrect pre-fill of payment summary data, update the record using the Earnings and Reporting workflow in Process Direct and clearly document the record. No evidence is required. Check that the customer’s reporting frequency is appropriate.

Evidence may be required in some cases prior to Service Officers making changes to the confirmed STP data, where it is identified:

• that the pre-filled employment income was not previously declared while the customer or partner received an income support payment, or
• there are inconsistencies with the information already on the record

Service Officers must document the details of the conversation and the action taken.

Service Officers must use the Earnings and Reporting workflow in Process Direct to make the required updates and:

• record notes of the conversation with the customer
• record the details of changes made on the STP Employer Wage Items (EMGI) screen and the source of the evidence before finalising the reporting activity

Consider requesting payslips and escalating to mySupport where the customer consistently makes changes to the pre-filled STP data that is reported by the employer.

When updating employment income for a past period, Service Officers must not directly make updates to the Employment Income Paid Details (EAPP) table. Updates must be made using the Earnings and Reporting workflow and will identify if STP data is available. Staff must:

• answer Yes to Do you want to update income for a past period? and enter the date range to query
• select Search. The Past Period Range table will show if STP data is available with a Yes in the STP data present field
• select the box(es) next to the reporting periods required, then Next. The workflow will progress to the STP Employer Wage Items (EMGI) screen and show the STP pay events for the customer to check, confirm or change to match their payslip, one entitlement period at a time

If no STP data is available for the reporting period being updated, the workflow will progress to the Employment Income Summary (EANS) screen.

Where STP data is available and the Service Officer has selected Accept Income and then Next, the confirmed STP data will map to the EAPP table. Service Officers must carefully check for any income manually coded with a date of event (DOV) in the reporting period and where STP data has been confirmed, the manually added income must be deleted.

See Recording and correcting employment income details for coding instructions.

When STP data is available for a customer, STP service profiling triggers will place the customer on 2-weekly reporting if they are not already.

These triggers may also take customers off reporting 6 fortnights after confirming cessation details or if there has been no STP data reported for 6 fortnights. See Employment income options online.

Note: if a customer states they are no longer working and request to be taken off reporting, Service Officers can update the reporting requirements, however, must advise any final pay details reported later through STP may place them back on reporting.

Service Officers must:

• discuss reporting requirements with the customer
• advise the customer of their self service reporting options, and register them, if needed
• explain that STP payroll data reported by their employer may pre-fill when reporting
• run the STP Employer Update workflow or Earnings and Reporting workflow (if the customer is due to report) in Process Direct, to confirm the STP employer

Customers can refer to the Services Australia online guides for myGov, online accounts and mobile apps for assistance with self-service tools.

Service Officers can refer to Reporting employment income online or Reporting using phone self service for customer reporting information.

If the customer advises they do not work or get paid, see Process > Table 1 in Single Touch Payroll (STP) troubleshooting.

Check the STP employer status on the STP Employer Update (EMCF) screen is confirmed and all fields are completed, for example, date submitted and linked employer. See Table 1 > Item 3.

After viewing and confirming the STP data, ensure that Accept Income is selected. Once the Accept Income button has been selected, it will become greyed out.

Check if the STP employer has been linked to an existing employer that is an SWS/ADE employment type. Confirmed STP income will not map to the Employment Income Paid Details (EAPP) table. Service Officers must manually code the confirmed STP data on the EAPP table.

If STP income has not mapped to the EAPP table due to incomplete confirmation of the STP employer and/or incomplete/incorrect linkage to an existing employer, or it was deleted, staff must take the appropriate action based on the above checks.

Service Officers must then use the Earnings and Reporting workflow and:

• select the relevant reporting periods when answering Yes to Do you want to update income for a past period? to navigate to the STP Employer Wage Items (EMGI) screen
• identify the pay event/s on EMGI that need to be mapped to the EAPP table again
• select the edit button of the relevant pay event and then Save without any changes. This will reactivate the Accept Income button
• select Accept Income and then Next, the pay event details will map to the EAPP table
• repeat the above steps where multiple reporting periods need to be confirmed and applied to the record

STP data will only pre-fill when using the Earnings and Reporting workflow in Process Direct when:

• an unconfirmed STP employer needs to be reviewed, or
• there is STP data available for a confirmed STP employer in a reporting task

If the STP data present indicator displays as Yes but the STP Employer Update (EMCF) and STP Employer Wage Items (EMGI) screens do not show, it means the STP employer has previously been rejected. See Table 2 > Item 3

Unconfirmed STP data will only pre-fill in the workflow for the reporting period being processed. This means that when a customer’s report has been completed, and the Earnings and Reporting workflow is run, it does not automatically retrieve and/or display any other STP data available from past reporting periods.

If needing to view or update the current or past STP data, select Yes at Update past periods and enter the date range to check. This action is needed even when updating an STP pay event confirmed earlier on the same day.

If the Accept Income button is greyed out when completing a reporting task, it means the STP data has already been confirmed. The Document List (DL) screen will have a DOC with details of the accepted STP data and if there were any variations made.

If no changes are needed to the already accepted income, check the income has mapped to the Employment Income Paid Details (EAPP) table and finalise the activity.

If the customer has contacted as they confirmed the pre-filled income before making changes, refer to Table 4 > Item 5 about whether evidence is required. Select the edit button for the component that needs to be changed, make the updates and select Save. This will reactivate the Accept Income button. Once all STP income has been reviewed and accepted by the customer, select Accept Income. Continue with the report.

When STP pay events have been accepted, the component/s will map to the Employment Income Paid Details (EAPP) table when:

• A customer selects the Submit and Continue button in their online reporting task
• A Service Officer has selected Accept Income on the STP Employer Wage Items (EMGI) screen when using the Earnings and Reporting workflow

If a Service Officer makes updates to already confirmed income by selecting edit for the component and then selecting Save, it will reactivate the Accept Income button and turn green. If Accept Income is not selected to confirm the changes, the updates being made will not update to the EAPP table and will leave the Pay Event Accepted indicator as No.

By not selecting Accept Income after making changes to confirmed data, or by not deleting unwanted provisional changes, it may result in a display issue when viewing EMGI. Service Officers may see the pay event duplicated with each Pay Event Accepted indicator displaying as Yes and No.

There can be occasions when an employer makes adjustments to or adds pay components to STP data reported in the past, such as when paid leave is changed to unpaid leave, or overtime is reported before the payroll cut-off but the employee did not end up working overtime.

Although the pay slip will show the adjusted total income in the following pay period, STP data does not deduct a negative component from the overall Gross Income Reported field. This is because negative amounts are treated as 0.00.

In these cases, the Salary and Wages - Income Gross Amount or other assessable components will need to be adjusted to factor in the adjusted amount. See Resources > Table 3 >Item 3.

Free or discounted accommodation may be provided by an employer as part of a customer’s work entitlements. These are reported as Reportable Fringe Benefits and can be in addition to the customer’s wage.

The free or discounted amount of the accommodation provided by the employer is exempt from the income test.

An employer may provide accommodation in the following scenarios:

• a nurse living in the nurses’ quarters at the hospital where they work
• a teacher doing relief work in a remote area living in discounted campus accommodation

Note: where a customer lives in a private rental and has their rent payments deducted from their wages through Salary Sacrificing, this is not Free or discounted accommodation provided by the employer.

Confirmed STP Paid Leave – Workers’ compensation amounts are mapped to the Employment Income Paid Details (EAPP) table when there are no compensation details associated to the employer recorded in the Compensation Management System (CMS). This will apply for the time needed for the customer to provide a Compensation and damages (MOD C) and for it to be assessed and coded by the Compensation Recovery Team (CRT).

When assessed in CMS, STP workers’ compensation income will continue to pre-fill in reporting tasks but will be labelled as not assessable income. This means it will not update the EAPP table when confirmed.

When compensation income that is already assessed in CMS shows as being assessable and updates to the EAPP table after being confirmed, it may be due to one of the following:

• the employer has reported it to the Australian Taxation Officer (ATO) as Salary and Wages – Income Gross Amount. instead of Paid Leave – Workers’ compensation
• it is correctly reported as Paid Leave – Workers’ compensation but the date of event (DOV) in CMS is more than 365 days old

In both cases the pre-filled amount must be adjusted to 0.00. See Coding periodic compensation payments and raising debts for details on making an update in CMS with a new DOV.

Consider escalating through mySupport if the customer does not need to be on 2 weekly reporting. See Item 8 below.

Note: Service Officers must check the pre-filled amount against that coded in CMS and make any relevant updates to CMS where the customer confirms the amount has changed. See Table 1 in Coding periodic compensation payments and raising debts.

Customers have control over the pre-filled STP data in their report and can make corrections when the pay details do not match their payslip.

In some cases, there may be one-off events where pre-filled data may not match the details on the payslip. Contact Local Peer Support (LPS) if unsure about the pre-filled pay components as they may show differently through STP compared to how they are displayed on the payslip, while the total gross income is the same.

Where Service Officers are helping a customer report and they advise the pre-filled amount is incorrect, Service Officers must DOC the discussion. Where Service Officers can see the customer has varied pre-filled data in previous reports, or a customer has contacted to advise the STP data is consistently incorrect, the customer must provide payslips to clarify the discrepancies.

Once payslips are uploaded, check the details on the STP Employer Wage Items (EMGI) screen against the payslips. Service Officers must make sure any required updates have been made on EMGI, to match the payslip details. This includes making updates to STP income that was incorrectly adjusted. See Process > Table 4.

Where it is confirmed there are consistent discrepancies, Service Officers must lodge a mySupport request through the Single Touch Payroll (STP) pre-filled employment data request web form. See Resources for a link.

Note: Service Officers must check ICT Interaction Viewer to see if the issue has previously been escalated and advice provided. Service Officers must follow any instructions previously provided and escalate where the issue is still occurring.

The STP program monitor employer behaviour and will escalate discrepancies to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) when needed.

See Scenarios of various STP components reported and support for customer enquiries. See Process > Table 4 in Single Touch Payroll (STP) troubleshooting for additional details when requesting a STP profiling reporting override.

When a customer reports through self-service and advises a pay component duration is more than 52 weeks in duration, a warning message will ask the customer to check the duration provided is correct.

Where a back pay component is reported and the advised duration is more than 5 years, it will result in the first step of the report becoming a hand-off.

The customer will need to contact for a Service Officer to use the Earnings and Reporting workflow in Process Direct to check that the duration provided is correct and complete the report.

Compensation payments paid to an employee by an STP employer or insurance agency (for example, WorkCover) are reported as Paid Leave – Workers’ Compensation.

The system will check for a previous assessment by the Compensation Recovery Team (CRT). Where there is an active compensation claim associated with the employer, the amounts reported through STP will still pre-fill but will not map to the record when confirmed. The STP Paid Leave – Workers’ Compensation component will be marked as ‘Not assessable’ in online services and will show as not included in the PayPP calculation on the STP Employer Wage Items (EMGI) screen.

Where there has not been a previous assessment of the workers’ compensation, the confirmed compensation amount will map to the Employment Income Paid Details (EAPP) table for at least 2 fortnights, until the compensation details are coded in the Compensation Management System (CMS). The customer will need to complete a Compensation and damages (MOD C) form. This can be completed verbally during the customer contact, or via a paper form. Customers reporting through their Centrelink online account or Express Plus Centrelink mobile app will have an online task created to submit a MOD C.

Service Officers must discuss the pre-filled Paid Leave – Workers’ Compensation with the customer and check CMS for any compensation income already being assessed. If CMS shows compensation:

• is not being assessed:
• continue with the reporting task
• the customer must complete a Compensation and damages (MOD C) form. See Completing the Compensation and damages details via Mod C or verbal lodgement. Customers reporting online will have an online task created to return a MOD C when they confirm the pre-filled STP compensation details
• is assessed, but amounts are different:
• continue with the reporting task
• discuss when the amounts changed and make updates in CMS after the report is completed. Evidence may be required if backdating is necessary. See Coding periodic compensation payments and raising debts
• if the customer is not on a payment with mutual obligations, and has been placed on 2-weekly reporting, once updates have been made in CMS, see Escalating a potential reporting override request in Process > Table 4 > Item 2 in Single Touch Payroll (STP) troubleshooting
• is assessed and amounts match the STP data:
• continue with the reporting task
• advise the income will not be assessed when confirmed
• if the customer is not on a payment with mutual obligations, and has been placed on 2-weekly reporting, see Escalating a potential reporting override request in Process > Table 4 > Item 2 in Single Touch Payroll (STP) troubleshooting
• is assessed, amounts match the STP data and date of event (DOV) is more than 365 days
• continue with the reporting task
• adjust the pre-filled Paid Leave - Workers’ Compensation amount to 0.00 to prevent it from being assessed. See Table 5 > Item 7
• See Coding periodic compensation payments and raising debts for details on making an update in CMS with a new DOV
• if the customer is not on a payment with mutual obligations, and has been placed on 2-weekly reporting, see Escalating a potential reporting override request in Process > Table 4 > Item 2 in Single Touch Payroll (STP) troubleshooting
• is coded but there is no income amount assessed or has been closed
• continue with the reporting task
• refer to Create an escalation Fast Note in Coding periodic compensation payments and raising debts
• is assessed and customer has a gradual return to work:
• continue with the reporting task
• any wages paid due to working will be assessable but Paid Leave - Workers’ Compensation amount will not be assessable
• check CMS against the pre-filled Paid Leave - Workers’ Compensation and update where required due to the gradual return to work. See Coding periodic compensation payments and raising debts

Some customers choose to use part of their employment income for a purchased leave arrangement. When a customer purchases leave, their gross wage minus the purchased leave amount is assessed as income. This is because the income is assessed when the leave is taken and paid. See Purchased leave for more information.

Depending on how the employer has reported this, it will pre-fill through STP as either:

• a negative adjustment of the Salary and Wages paid leave component, which represents the amount that is purchased to accrue the additional leave
• a reduction of the Salary and Wages Income Gross Amount component, which represents the amount that is accrued as additional leave
• salary sacrifice deduction

A negative amount does not reduce the gross STP income total to be assessed. Where the employer has reported this as a negative adjustment to the paid leave or salary sacrifice component, customers and Service Officers will need to manually adjust the Salary and Wages Income Gross Amount to reflect the purchased leave amount. See Resources > Table 2 > Item 8.

Paid leave is reported when an employee has taken a period of leave or been paid for an absence. For example, a sick day, public holiday, annual leave, paid day off etc. When reporting through self service, customers must advise the number of days that the paid leave was paid for.

The types of paid leave components reported via STP can be found in Resources > Table 2 in Single Touch Payroll (STP).

Service Officers may encounter SR353: Enter mandatory field Adjusted – Start Date & End Date of paid leave in an Earnings and Reporting workflow transaction. The field that requires the duration of leave to be recorded will be highlighted with a red outline. Service Officers must enter a start date and an end date to reflect the total duration the leave was paid for.

As an example, one day of leave could have a start date of 4 December 2023 and an end date of 4 December 2023. Where there have been non-consecutive days of paid leave in the pay period, the dates do not have to reflect the actual days that were taken off. A start date of 4 December 2023 and an end date of 6 December 2023 could be used to reflect a total of 3 paid leave days. If a customer has been paid 2 weeks of holiday pay, the start date and end date of the reporting period can be used.

Select the Earnings and Reporting workflow in Process Direct. When on the STP Employer Wage Items (EMGI) screen:

• select edit for the Paid leave component
• enter the start date for the period in Adjusted Period Start Date field
• enter the end date for the period in Adjusted Period End Date field
• select Save, and then Accept Income once all STP income has been reviewed and accepted by the customer. Continue with the report

See Leave and termination payments paid by an employer to determine the correct dates to use where the customer has been paid payments on cessation of work.

When the employer reports a lump sum payment, a sub-component will advise the nature of the payment. Customers must advise the duration that the lump sum payment is paid for.

The types of lump sum components reported via STP can be found in Resources > Table 2 in Single Touch Payroll (STP).

Service Officers may encounter SR353: Enter mandatory field Adjusted – Start Date & End Date of the lump sum in an Earnings and Reporting workflow transaction. The field that requires the duration of the lump sum period to be recorded will be highlighted with a red outline. Service Officers must enter a start date and an end date to reflect the total duration the lump sum payment was paid for.

Select the Earnings and Reporting workflow in Process Direct. When on the STP Employer Wage Items (EMGI) screen:

• select edit for the lump sum component
• enter the start date for the period in Adjusted Period Start Date field
• enter the end date for the period in Adjusted Period End Date field
• select Save, and then Accept Income once all STP income has been reviewed and accepted by the customer. Continue with the report

Backpay is money paid for work done in previous pay periods.

An employer may report backpay as a lump sum payment via STP channels, when adjusting income for a period an employee was underpaid. Customers must provide the start and end date for the pre-filled backpay payment. See Item 5 above for details.

Note: backpay from an STP employer can also be manually added by a customer in an online report, where:

• Backpay is selected from the ‘type of pay’ menu in the ‘Edit or add pay’ flow, or
• Salary and Wages is selected from the ‘type of pay’ menu in ‘Edit or add pay’ flow, and either
• the customer advises the employer pay period is more than 31 days, or
• the difference between the gross income confirmed in the last STP pay event and the new gross amount is equal to or greater than $1,000

When a customer advises the number of days for paid leave, it is automatically attributed across the reporting period in which it was paid, when the duration of leave does not exceed the length of the reporting period.

Where the employer pay period that the paid leave covers is longer than the length of the reporting period, the start and end dates need to align with their regular employment income across the employer pay period. See Leave and termination payments paid by an employer.

For example:

• Customer has a 14-day entitlement period. They are paid monthly and have taken 5 days of paid leave for the employer pay period 1 April to 30 April. The paid leave duration must be coded as start date 1 April and end date 30 April for the system to correctly attribute the paid leave component across 30 days
• Customer has recently been granted and has a short entitlement period of 9 days. They are paid fortnightly and have taken 10 days of paid leave for the employer pay period 1 April to 14 April. The paid leave duration must be coded as start date 1 April and end date 14 April for the system to correctly attribute the paid leave component across 14 days.

Customers are usually paid employment income weekly, fortnightly or monthly. It would be expected that when paid:

• Weekly, 2 weekly pay events will pre-fill each fortnight
• Fortnightly, one fortnightly pay event will pre-fill each fortnight
• Monthly, one monthly pay event will pre-fill every second or third fortnight

If multiple pay events have pre-filled in the reporting period, check if the customer has been paid the multiple pays or if an adjustment or update from the employer has occurred. See Multiple pays received in a single entitlement period for information about assessing the multiple amounts of income paid.

Some allowances do not have their own STP sub-component, so the employer will report the income as Other allowances. Customers must advise if the allowance is a reimbursement for out of pocket work expenses they have had. See Allowances paid with employment income for more details.

If the additional information is not coded, SR353: Enter mandatory field Additional Information for Other allowances will show.

Select the Earnings and Reporting workflow in Process Direct. When on the STP Employer Wage Items (EMGI) screen:

• select edit for the Other allowances component
• select the twisty for Additional Information
• select the option the customer advises:
• Other Allowances - Not Reimbursement of employment related costs
• Other Allowances - Reimbursement of employment related costs
• Select Save, and then Accept Income once all STP income has been reviewed and accepted by the customer. Continue with the report

Some customers may need a qualification to perform their work. In some cases, an employer may reimburse the employee for out of pockets costs for getting or maintaining that qualification. As this payment is a reimbursement, it is non-assessable.

Employers must report the reimbursement that is paid to the employee as Allowances -Qualification Allowances, however some employers may incorrectly use this component when reporting a task allowance. For example: income paid to an employee who paid for their First Aid Certificate course and is paid back by the employer, would be reported as Qualification Allowance. As a First Aid Officer, the additional allowance paid each pay period for providing first aid assistance, should be reported through STP as a Task Allowance.

As a result, customers are asked if the allowance is a reimbursement for getting or maintaining the qualification. See Allowances paid with employment income for more details.

If the additional information required is not recorded, SR353: Enter mandatory field Additional Information for Qualification allowances will show.

Select the Earnings and Reporting workflow in Process Direct. When on the STP Employer Wage Items (EMGI) screen:

• select edit for the Qualification allowances component
• select the twisty for Additional Information field
• select the option the customer advises:
• Qualification Allowances - Not paid to get or maintain qualification
• Qualification Allowances – Paid to get or maintain qualification
• Select Save, and then Accept Income once all STP income has been reviewed and accepted by the customer. Continue with the report

Customers must advise of the duration that the bonus or commission income was paid for. This may be the same duration as the employer pay period or a monthly or quarterly period etc. See Assessment of income for Centrelink payments for more details.

When this component pre-fills in the Earnings and Reporting workflow, Service Officers will see SR353: Enter mandatory field Adjusted – Start Date & End Date for Bonus or commission. The field that requires the duration of the payment to be coded will be highlighted with a red outline. Service Officers must enter the period that the bonus or commission was paid for.

Select the Earnings and Reporting workflow in Process Direct. When on the STP Employer Wage Items (EMGI) screen:

• select edit for the Bonus or commission component
• enter the start date for the period in Adjusted Period Start Date field
• enter the end date for the period in Adjusted Period End Date field
• select Save, and then Accept Income once all STP income has been reviewed and accepted by the customer. Continue with the report

Some customers may be provided a benefit from their employer in addition to their salary. For example, they may have a salary package worth $60,000 being a salary of $45,000 and $15,000 value of the use of a company car, or they may get a $1,500 gym membership provided to them on top of their $45,000 salary. Reportable fringe benefits that are part of a salary package are typically reported as a lump sum at the end of the financial year.

Some customers may choose to salary sacrifice their income for a benefit. For taxation purposes, the employer may report the Salary Sacrifice - Other component and also report the reportable fringe benefits amount (RFBA) which is typically the value of the salary sacrifice amount multiplied by 1.8868. This may be reported with every pay event or as a lump sum at the end of the financial year.

See Assessing fringe benefits for Social Security income test purposes for more information about fringe benefits.

STP employers can report the reportable fringe benefits component with each pay event or as a lump sum at the end of the financial year. The amount that is reported through STP is the taxable value of the benefit and may appear higher than the benefit. This is known as the grossed up amount. However, the system will apply the non-grossed up amount for the income test assessment.

This arrangement will be reported through STP as Reportable Fringe Benefits (RFB). The customer will be asked if the arrangement includes free or discounted accommodation that is provided by the employer, such as a nurse living in employer provided nursing quarters. If they answer Yes, the customer needs to advise how much of the RFB amount is for the accommodation, through self service and staff assisted reporting channels.

Where Service Officers are using the Earnings and Reporting workflow, and the additional information is not coded, SR353: Enter mandatory field Additional Information for Reportable Fringe Benefits will show.

Select the Earnings and Reporting workflow in Process Direct. When on the STP Employer Wage Items (EMGI) screen:

• select edit for the Reportable Fringe Benefits component
• select the twisty for Additional Information
• select the option the customer advises:
• Reportable Fringe Benefits- Include free or discounted accommodation
  Add the accommodation value in the RFB accommodation field
• Reportable Fringe Benefits- Do not include free or discounted accommodation
• select Save, and then Accept Income once all STP income has been reviewed and accepted by the customer. Continue with the report

A message shows in the workflow, that 53% of Reportable Fringe Benefits will be calculated and mapped. Reportable fringe benefits pre-fill as the grossed up amount, however the non-grossed-up amount (less free or discounted accommodation amounts) will map to the Employment Income Paid Details (EAPP) table without Service Officers needing to make any adjustments. See Resources > Table 2.

Where the customer benefits from or has use of the fringe benefit throughout the Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) year (1 April to 31 March), the value must be reported and assessed at the time, not as a lump sum after the end of the year.

Customers who have a lump sum RFB amount pre-fill in a report at the end of the financial year, must be asked about their RFB arrangements. The start and end date of a pre-filled STP RFB component will default to the dates of the related employer pay period. The pre-filled RFB dates and amount may need to be amended where:

The RFB amount is for the same benefit as a salary sacrifice component

• The lump sum RFB amount may represent the yearly benefit being reported fortnightly as a salary sacrifice component
• If this is the case, the duplicate RFB amount must be adjusted to zero
• If the RFB amount includes fringe benefits above the amount that has been reported as a salary sacrifice component, as the customer has a separate RFB provided by the employer, then the additional amount needs to be recorded
• Ask the customer if they had use of the benefit throughout the year to determine the dates to record. For example, 1 April to 31 March where the customer had access to the fringe benefit in the FBT year or other appropriate dates where the customer only had use of the benefit for part of the year

• The value of the fringe benefit is assessable from when the customer first has the benefit
• If the fringe benefit amount has already been reported and assessed throughout the year, the pre-filled RFB amount must be adjusted to zero
• If the fringe benefit amount has not previously been reported, the start and end date will need to be amended to match the period that the customer had use of the benefit (for example 1 April to 31 March to match the FBT year or other appropriate dates where the customer only had use of the benefit for part of the year)
• When the pre-filled data is accepted and mapped to the EAPP table, the start date recorded will be used as the event date for the fringe benefit amount to assess the value over the correct period
• See Assessing fringe benefits for Social Security income test purposes for more information about assessing fringe benefit income

Assessment of the fringe benefit is no longer relevant

• For example, the customer ceased employment prior to the customer or partner claiming an income support payment and an RFB amount is pre-filled based on the customer’s previous employment
• The RFB amount is not assessable and must be adjusted to zero

Once updates to the pre-filled RFB component are completed, staff must ask the customer if they continue to have an RFB work entitlement. If the customer answers:

• Yes, the customer must provide the details of their current benefit. The annual non- grossed up amount must be coded from 1 April to 31 March of the current FBT year (or the relevant start and end date if the customer will have access to the RFB for less than the FBT year). See Assessing fringe benefits for Social Security income test purposes for assistance to calculate the non-grossed up amount. Record details of the discussion and the updates made in a DOC
• No, no further action is required. Tell the customer to advise of any changes to their employment income within 14 days. Record details of the discussion and the updates made in a DOC

Some customers can choose to sacrifice part or all of their salary towards a benefit. This may be done as a pre-tax or post-tax deduction. See Assessing salary sacrificing/salary packaging arrangements for employment income for more information.

The salary sacrifice components pre-fill for display purposes only and reflect the amount that has been sacrificed towards the benefit. These amounts are not used in the PayPP calculation, as the amount is already part of the gross income. Any updates made to pre-filled salary sacrifice amounts will not change the total assessable income.

Salary sacrifice can be reported under the following sub-components:

• Salary Sacrifice - Superannuation - voluntary arrangement of employee contributions into their superannuation fund
• Salary Sacrifice - Other - voluntary arrangement where an employee chooses to sacrifice part/all of their salary towards a fringe benefit. This can include, but is not limited to mortgage payments, car lease, health insurance, rent deductions, entertainment/meals card or childcare fees

Note: employers are required to report the grossed up taxable value of the reportable fringe benefits amount (RFBA) for taxation purposes. Employers can choose to report RFB amounts with each pay event or at the end of the financial year. Where the RFBA component and the salary sacrifice component are for the same benefit, the RFBA component will need to be adjusted to $0.00.

If a customer contacts to discuss the total pre-filled amount, advise how salary sacrifice arrangements do not reduce the total assessable income for Centrelink purposes. See Resources > Table 2.

Unused leave and termination payments may pre-fill in a reporting task when a customer ceases work. The cessation date and reason may also pre-fill. The cessation reason cannot be changed. Customers subject to mutual obligation requirements will be required to give an explanation of why they ceased work, when the cessation reason is voluntary or dismissal. Service Officers must manually generate an Unemployment Non-Payment Period (UNPP), where required.

When customers are reporting through self service channels, they will be asked to give the number of days the unused leave or termination payments are paid for, or their average weekly wage. This will determine the duration of an Income Maintenance Period (IMP) for customers and/or partners on an IMP affected payment.

For Service Officers using the Earnings and Reporting workflow, enter the start and end dates for the duration of each of the cessation payments, as advised by the customer:

• select edit for the cessation payment component(s)
• enter the start date for the period in Adjusted Period Start Date field
• enter the end date for the period in Adjusted Period End Date field
• select Save, and then Accept Income once all STP income has been reviewed and accepted by the customer. Continue with the report

Service Officers must make sure the duration provided is reasonable. For example, for an unused leave payment of $900 (annual leave), a 1-day duration would be considered unreasonable, but 5 days would be reasonable.

Verification, such as an Employment Separation Certificate (SU001), payslip or letter from the employer is required where:

• the customer makes changes to the cessation payments
• there is doubt about the number of days/duration provided.

When pre-filled unused leave and/or redundancy payments are confirmed, the data will map to the Income Maintenance Period Summary (IMPS) screen when a cessation date and reason are also pre-filled. Customers or their partners who are not subject to an IMP assessment will not be affected by the coding on the IMPS screen.

Where unused leave and/or redundancy payments are pre-filled and no cessation reason and date is reported via STP, the amounts will map to the Employment Income Paid Details (EAPP) table.

Certain customers reporting online who confirm Paid Leave - Unused Leave on Termination and no cessation reason and date is included in the STP data, will also be asked if they are still working for the employer. If they answer No, an online task is created to provide an SU001. The confirmed STP data will be initially mapped to the EAPP table. When the SU001 is returned, the employment cessation details can be updated, as needed.

Customers who are not subject to an IMP will also be asked Do you need to advise of any change to your income and assets details? in the online reporting task, to prompt them to update their circumstances. If they answer Yes, a new Update your income and assets task is added in self service.

When a customer has confirmed ceasing employment with the STP employer, the Employer verification field on the Employment Income Summary (EANS) screen will update from STP to STC.

When a student is paid a scholarship or stipend payment from their study provider, it is assessed as Other income and coded on the Other Income Summary (OINS) screen. This allows the exempt portion to be excluded from assessment for Equity or Merit based Scholarships so only the excess is assessed as income. See Assessing scholarship income for more details.

The scholarship or stipend may be reported through STP as Salary and wages, Allowances or combined with their usual pay. At this stage, there is no separate process for this to be reported through STP. If Service Officers identify this situation, confirm that the scholarship or stipend is coded on OINS. Customers will need to adjust the pre-filled amount to exclude the scholarship or stipend amount.

When a customer is self-employed through a sole trader or partnership and their business details are coded on the Real Estate Business (REBS) screen, there may still be STP data reported. This is where the customer is deemed an employee of another business.

STP data may be reported where the customer is paid as an employee through the payroll of another business. STP data is not reported if the customer works for the other business and provides an invoice to be paid.

If a customer claims they are not an employee and has included that income (with deductions) in their profit and loss statement, ask them if they get a payslip and payment summary from the STP employer or do they issue the business an invoice? See Resources > Table 1.

Referring to the customer’s individual tax return may help. Where income details are recorded from the STP employer at Item 1 of the tax return, they are regarded an employee of that business. See Self-employed or employee?

If a customer confirms the STP employer details is their own sole-trader business, refer them to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) website for correct reporting of their sole trader business.

Note: where a customer is self-employed and operating a business through a Private Trust or Private Company, they may also be paid a wage by the trust or company and this employment income may be reported through STP and recorded on the Employment Income Paid Details (EAPP) table.

Customers who work for a family business or company may be regarded as a closely held payee. These entities can register for a reporting concession with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) where they have an option to report their STP data to the ATO on a quarterly basis.

In most cases, these customers may still be paid weekly, fortnightly or monthly. Although the STP data may only be available every 3 months, the customer is still required to report the income that is paid to them within their reporting period.

For the reporting period where the quarterly amount may pre-fill through STP, the customer will need to adjust the data to match what has been paid as per their pay slip details.

The following circumstances are exempt from STP service profiling and will not place a customer on reporting:

• no STP component amounts greater than zero
• the customer or partner have MTE continuous income coded
• blind customers (Age Pension (Blind) (AGB) and Disability Support Pension (Blind) (DSB)) with an income and asset test exemption coded on the Pensions Disability Information (PDI) screen, see Income and assets tests for blind customers
• customers in environment I (International Operations)
• an active Australian Disability Enterprises (ADE) employment type with:
• a continuous employment income frequency of 1WE or 2WE, or
• employment income reported by Employer Electronic Reporting (EER)

Not all employment cessation information is available via STP. This means an SU001 is still required in some circumstances.

Some former employers are telling customers they no longer need to complete an SU001 because the information has been sent via STP.

Service Officers must request an SU001 when it is required to accurately assess entitlement or rate of payment.

Customers must provide the number of days or average weekly wage for paid leave paid, when completing their reporting statement. Customers may also adjust the amounts of STP income components.

An SU001 may be required even when STP data is available, where the:

• customer changed the amount(s) of any unused leave or termination payments
• duration of the days the leave/termination payments relates to is unreasonable
• customer advises their partner has stopped working

Service Officers may also request an SU001 to investigate whether an Unemployment Non-Payment Period (UNPP) needs to be applied.

STP cessation data is not available for new claims. All customers advising in a claim that they or their partner have ceased work in the last 12 months, must provide an SU001 when requested.