What payee details are reported?¶

Every Single Touch Payroll (STP) report has two levels: the payer — your business — and each payee — each employee. This lesson covers the payee level: the employee information that goes in a pay report.

The payee details help the ATO match each employee to their own tax record. Without a confident match, the ATO cannot show the employee their figures in myGov.

In one line

Payee details are each employee's identity, their Payroll ID, their employment conditions, and their year-to-date pay, tax, deductions and super.

Why this matters¶

The payee details are what let the ATO show the right figures to the right person. If the identity is clear, the employee sees their pay, tax and super building up in their income statement. Getting them right keeps each employee's figures correct.

What you will learn¶

The employee details reported in a pay event
What the year-to-date amounts cover
Why reported amounts keep being reported

Understanding the concept¶

The payee part of a pay report includes:

Identity — the employee's TFN (Tax File Number) or an exemption code; for a contractor, their ABN; their name; date of birth; and residential address. Contact details such as email and mobile can help the ATO match them.
Payroll ID — the code that uniquely identifies the employee in your payroll.
Employment conditions — details of the working relationship, such as the commencement date, employment basis, and the tax treatment code that reflects how their withholding was worked out.
Year-to-date (YTD) amounts — the running totals since 1 July, covering:
- the pay by income stream (income type),
- the tax withheld (PAYGW — PAYG withholding),
- any deductions, and
- super.

An important rule: once an amount has first been reported for an employee, it keeps being reported. Each pay event carries the whole year-to-date figure again, not just the latest pay — so the ATO always sees the full picture.

For accountants & bookkeepers

Under the STP rules, the payee is the "child" record inside the payer. Deductions, super entitlements and RFBA are "Other Components" reported for the payee regardless of income type, separate from the Income Stream Collection. The ATO states pay must "continue to be reported each pay event, as a total of all remuneration reportable for the entire financial year" — the payer must report the entire financial year YTD amounts each time the payee is included, in AUD.

Example¶

A business pays an employee each fortnight. In every pay event, the employee's record carries their TFN, name, date of birth and address, their Payroll ID, their employment conditions, and their year-to-date pay, tax, deductions and super. After each pay, the employee logs in to myGov and sees those running totals climb.

Common mistakes¶

Reporting only the latest pay — the amounts are year-to-date totals.
Dropping an amount once it stops changing — once reported, it keeps being reported.
Confusing the Payroll ID (the employee's code) with the BMS ID (the software's code).

How this works in myaccountant¶

In the app — myaccountant builds the STP report from your pay run, so payee details come from the employee's record. The Payroll ID is the employee's myaccountant ID. Income type is set on the employee's tax and employment details, and the tax treatment code is worked out automatically from their tax declaration answers.

Key points¶

Payee details identify each employee in every STP report.
They include TFN, name, date of birth and address.
They include the Payroll ID and the employment conditions.
The year-to-date amounts cover pay, tax withheld, deductions and super.
Once first reported, year-to-date amounts keep being reported each pay event.

Learn next¶

General information only — not tax, super or financial advice.

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