Build Single Touch Payroll (STP) Phase 2 Pay Event

Skill: Convert a pay run into the STP Phase 2 pay event reported to the ATO

Region: Australia Category: Payroll — Single Touch Payroll (STP) reporting Does: Takes an ordinary pay run and produces the Single Touch Payroll Phase 2 pay event (the payevnt / payeventemp message) lodged with the ATO through the Standard Business Reporting (SBR2) channel, carrying employer details, per-payee year-to-date gross, PAYG withholding and super, with gross disaggregated into the STP2 income components. System: ATO Single Touch Payroll (STP) Phase 2 via SBR2

The STP pay event reports cumulative year-to-date amounts, not just this period's figures — the latest accepted YTD set replaces the previous one. It must be lodged on or before the day employees are paid. Validate against the current ATO STP Phase 2 business implementation guide before sending.

When this applies

• You run payroll and make a payment of salary, wages, or other payments subject to PAYG withholding to an employee.
• You must report each pay event to the ATO on or before the payday (the RP reporting party / payer).
• Applies to STP Phase 2 reporting, which requires the disaggregation of gross and additional payee attributes (employment basis, income type, tax treatment code) over and above Phase 1.

Input data required

Each payee carries a TFN (or a valid TFN exemption code, e.g. 000000000 where not provided) and the payer-assigned payroll ID. The BMS ID ties the YTD figures to the payroll system that generated them; changing BMS ID requires care to avoid duplicating YTD.

Message structure (payevnt / payeventemp)

The pay event is one payer-level message (payevnt) containing one or more employee records (payeventemp):

PAYEVNT (payer level)
├── Australian Business Number / WPN, Branch
├── BMS Identifier
├── Pay/Update Date, Run Date-Time
├── Submission Id, Period totals (PAYEVNT signed amounts)
└── PAYEVNTEMP (one per payee)
    ├── Payee TFN (or exemption), Payroll ID, Name, DOB, Address
    ├── Employment Basis (F/P/C/L/D), Income Type, Country Code
    ├── Tax Treatment Code (6-char, e.g. RTXXXX)
    ├── Income Stream Collection
    │   ├── Gross (disaggregated — see below)
    │   ├── PAYG Amount Withheld (YTD)
    │   ├── Allowances (by type code: CD, TD, KN, LD, MD, QN, TR, OD ...)
    │   ├── Deductions (Union/Professional Assoc; Child Support G/D)
    │   ├── Lump Sum (A/B/D/E/W), ETP collection
    │   └── Super Entitlements (SG liability; RESC; OSO)
    └── ...

Disaggregation of gross (STP2): Phase 2 splits what Phase 1 reported as a single "gross" into separately reported components. Report YTD amounts for: Gross (residual), Paid Leave, Allowances (itemised by type), Overtime, Bonuses and Commissions, Directors' Fees, Salary Sacrifice (S — superannuation, O — other employee benefits), Lump Sum payments and ETP separately. Amounts are signed and cumulative for the financial year.

Calculation rules

• All amounts are year-to-date for the current financial year (1 July – 30 June), not per-pay; the ATO retains the latest accepted YTD per payee/payroll ID.
• The reported residual Gross = total ordinary earnings minus the amounts moved out into Paid Leave, Overtime, Bonuses/Commissions, Directors' Fees, Allowances, Salary Sacrifice and Lump Sums (those are reported in their own fields, not inside Gross).
• Salary sacrifice is reported as a positive amount in its own component and is excluded from Gross (it reduces taxable gross).
• PAYG amount withheld is the YTD withholding for the payee; the payer-level period total reconciles to the sum across payees for the period.
• Super: report the YTD SG liability (super guarantee — 11.5% of ordinary time earnings for 2024–25, scheduled to be 12% from 1 July 2025) and any RESC separately.
• A Pay event sets new YTD; an Update event corrects YTD without an associated payment.

Worked example (one payee, financial year to date)

{
  "PAYEVNT": {
    "Australian.BusinessNumber.Identifier": "53004085616",
    "Organisation.PayrollHeadcount.Number": 1,
    "Software.Information.BusinessManagementSystemIdentifier": "BMS-ACME-001",
    "PayEvent.RunDateTime.Generation.Datetime": "2025-08-15T18:05:00",
    "Payer.PayPeriod.StartDate": "2025-08-01",
    "Payer.PayPeriod.EndDate": "2025-08-15",
    "Payer.MessageTimestamp.Generation.Datetime": "2025-08-15T18:05:00",
    "Payer.TotalPaymentAmount": 4200.00,
    "Payer.IncomeTaxAndSuperablePeriod.PayAsYouGoWithholding.TaxAmount": 980.00,
    "PAYEVNTEMP": [
      {
        "Payee.TaxFileNumber.Identifier": "123456782",
        "Payee.PayrollIdentifier": "EMP-0042",
        "Payee.Person.FamilyName.Text": "Nguyen",
        "Payee.Person.GivenName.Text": "Priya",
        "Payee.Birth.Date": "1990-04-12",
        "Payee.EmploymentBasis.Code": "F",
        "Income.Stream.Type.Code": "SAW",
        "Payee.Income.TaxTreatment.Code": "RTXXXX",
        "Income": {
          "Gross.Payments.Amount": 38000.00,
          "PaidLeave": [{ "Type.Code": "O", "Payments.Amount": 1800.00 }],
          "Overtime.Payments.Amount": 1200.00,
          "BonusesAndCommissions.Payments.Amount": 0.00,
          "Allowances": [
            { "Type.Code": "CD", "Payments.Amount": 600.00 },
            { "Type.Code": "TD", "Payments.Amount": 320.00 }
          ],
          "SalarySacrifice": [{ "Type.Code": "S", "Payments.Amount": 2000.00 }],
          "PayAsYouGoWithholding.Tax.Withheld.Amount": 8600.00
        },
        "Super": [
          { "Entitlement.Type.Code": "SGC", "Payments.Amount": 4600.00 },
          { "Entitlement.Type.Code": "RESC", "Payments.Amount": 2000.00 }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

This is the logical payload; the SBR2 channel transports it as the payevnt/payeventemp XBRL/XML message. Code values (income type SAW, allowance types CD/TD, salary sacrifice S, super SGC/RESC, tax treatment code) follow the ATO STP Phase 2 lists.

Validation checklist

• Payer ABN (or WPN) and branch present; BMS ID matches the system that holds the YTD
• Pay/Update indicator and payday set; lodged on or before the date employees are paid
• Each payee has a TFN (or valid exemption code) and a stable payroll ID
• STP2 payee attributes present: employment basis, income type, tax treatment code
• Gross is disaggregated — paid leave, overtime, bonuses/commissions, directors' fees, allowances (itemised), salary sacrifice and lump sums reported in their own fields, not in Gross
• All income, withholding and super amounts are financial-year YTD, not per-pay
• Super reports SG liability and RESC separately at the current SG rate
• Payer-level period totals reconcile to the sum of payee amounts for the period

Last updated: 2026-06-04 — confirm the active schema version, field codes, and ATO/portal requirements against the current Australian Taxation Office specifications before use.