Avoid Tax Refund Delay

The Australian Taxation Office introduced Single Touch Payroll (STP) as a new way for employers to report salary and wages in 2018. Reports are now made every pay period, instead of once at the end of the financial year.

Payment Summaries (a.k.a. group certificates) have now been replaced with online Income Statements, available from myGov.

Employees won't see much impact throughout the year as a result of STP, but being aware of changes at tax time can help secure your tax refund faster.
 

How to view your income statement in myGov

Log in to myGov, select ATO Online Services
Click 'View my income statements'  
'Tax ready' is equivalent to receiving a payment summary

 

Need to know more about getting your tax refund?

  • Why you’ll no longer receive payment summaries
    STP means no more end of year payment summaries (a.k.a. group certificates). Instead, income information is available throughout the year on your myGov account.

    This means better tracking of your earnings throughout the year and quicker notification of income statements at tax time.
     
  • Do I have to sign up for myGov?
    myGov is not compulsory, but creating a myGov account means easier tracking of activity with the ATO, Medicare, Centrelink, NDIS and other government services. You will need to create a myGov account and then link these services individually.

    Don’t have a myGov account? You can create one here

    https://my.gov.au/
     
  • Does this change how I process my tax return?
    Your income statement will show as ‘Tax ready’ when finalised by your employer.

    Any income statements not finalised will show 'Not Tax Ready,’ however you can still lodge a tax return in this state. Much like lodging before receiving a Payment Summary, you may need to lodge an amendment if your Income Statement changes once flagged as 'Tax ready.'
     
  • What if I still want a payment summary?
    Employers may still choose to provide payment summaries in addition to fulfilling their STP reporting requirements. You may also be able to request one from your employer but due to changes under STP2 there are likely to be differences in what is reported via STP2 versus the payment summary.
     
  • Why am I seeing doubled income information from my employer in myGov?
    Your employer may have changed your 'employee number' within their payroll software. It is best to speak to your payroll officer as soon as possible to let them know you are seeing doubled information.
  • Can I get my Income Statement without using myGov?
    If you don’t want a myGov account and don’t use a tax agent you are able to telephone the ATO to obtain your Income Statement.

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