As the end of the financial year approaches, it’s essential to make sure your payroll, superannuation and reporting obligations are accurate and up to date. Clear records, correct classifications and timely submissions help you stay compliant and ensure a smooth transition into the new financial year.
Below is a practical checklist to guide your payroll team through this busy period.
PAYG withholding checklist
Cut-off and tax variations
• Ensure the final pay run for 2024–2025 is processed before 30 June 2025.
• Remove any tax variations that cease on 30 June 2025.
• Enter new tax variations that apply from 1 July 2025.
Termination payments
• Update termination worksheets for redundancies to reflect new tax-free limits and the increased ETP cap.
• Be careful with timing: if an employee is terminated before 30 June but paid on or after 1 July, new rates and thresholds apply.
Reportable fringe benefits
• Review employees who left employment after 31 March 2025 to determine whether they will have reportable fringe benefits for the 2025–2026 income year.
• Maintain an STP record for these employees and complete their RFB field at year-end.
• Check that fringe benefits exceed the disclosure threshold ($2,000 × 1.8868 = $3,774).
• For employees with RFB amounts, consider sending an explanatory memo with an ATO fact sheet.
Overpayments and income year corrections
• Confirm that any employee overpayments have been reversed out of wages and coded as a loan prior to STP finalisation.
• Verify that wages are recorded in the correct income year. Payments received on or after 1 July 2025 belong in the 2025–2026 income year.
STP finalisation
• Submit your Single Touch Payroll finalisation by 14 July 2025, ensuring the “final event indicator” is set to true for all employees.
New-year pay rate changes
• Review pay rate adjustments or salary sacrifice changes effective from 1 July 2025.
• Award increases typically apply to the first full pay period on or after 1 July.
• Check whether 2025–2026 will include 53 weekly pays or 27 fortnightly pays, and allow staff to elect additional tax withholding if needed.
• Consider superannuation implications for staff tracking their concessional cap ($30,000 for 2025–2026).
Superannuation checklist
Super guarantee rate increase
• The SG rate increases to 12% from 1 July 2025 and applies to any wages received on or after this date, even if accrued earlier.
Reportable employer super contributions
• Check that all RESC amounts (eg salary sacrifice super) are correctly recorded in STP.
Maximum super contribution base
• The quarterly maximum super contribution base increases to $7,500 for 2025–2026.
• If using a monthly cap approach, update the maximum to $2,500 per month.
Payroll tax and WorkCover checklist
Registrations and compliance
• Review the states and territories in which your employees work and confirm you have the correct payroll tax and WorkCover registrations.
• Obtain a copy of the lodged FBT return for payroll tax and WorkCover reporting purposes. Revenue offices routinely request this during audits.
Contractors
• Obtain full details of any contractors who may need to be included in payroll tax or WorkCover declarations.
Legislative changes and grouping
• Check for changes in payroll tax or WorkCover requirements since last year.
• If your organisation is part of a payroll tax group, confirm whether any entities have joined or left the group.
Rebates and incentives
• Review each state or territory payroll tax authority for available rebates, concessions or incentives, especially following recent budget announcements.
Speak to one of our accountants if you have any questions about the changes in tax for 2025.
