Every payday: the Single Touch Payroll (STP) report is due on or before the day employees are paid — and, for paydays from 1 July 2026, super guarantee contributions must be received by each employee's fund within 7 business days of payday under Payday Super.
Every period: STP reports the withholding but doesn't remit it. The money moves on the activity-statement cycle, set by withholder size — quarterly 28ths (small), the 21st monthly (medium), or twice-weekly direct electronic payment (large).
Every year: the STP finalisation declaration is due 14 July (30 September for closely held payees).
Every state: payroll tax adds its own monthly return plus an annual reconciliation each July — dates differ by state.
The calendar at a glance
| Clock | Obligation | Due |
|---|---|---|
| Every payday | STP pay event | On or before the pay day |
| Every payday from 1 Jul 2026 | Super guarantee (Payday Super) | Received by the fund within 7 business days after payday |
| Quarterly small withholder ≤ $25k | PAYG-W on quarterly activity statement | 28 Oct · 28 Feb · 28 Apr · 28 Jul |
| Monthly medium withholder $25,001–$1M | PAYG-W on monthly activity statement | 21st of the following month |
| Twice-weekly large withholder > $1M | Direct electronic payment under a PRN — no activity-statement reporting | Within 6–8 days of each withholding event |
| Annual | STP finalisation declaration | 14 July (30 Sep closely held; payee's return date for small, only-closely-held employers) |
| Annual | Payment summary annual report non-STP amounts only | 14 August |
| Monthly per state | Payroll tax return — NSW / VIC / QLD | 7 days after month end / 7th of next month / 7 days after period end |
| Annual per state | Payroll tax annual return — NSW / VIC / QLD | 28 July / 21 July / 21 July |
| Quarterly earnings paid up to 30 Jun 2026 only | Super guarantee (outgoing quarterly regime) | 28 Oct · 28 Jan · 28 Apr · 28 Jul — final cycle due 28 July 2026 |
Where an ATO or state due date falls on a weekend or public holiday, you generally have until the next business day. Note the two quarterly cycles differ: the December-quarter BAS is due 28 February (the date already embeds a one-month extension), while December-quarter super under the outgoing regime was due 28 January.
Per payday: STP on or before the pay day
Every payday, an STP pay event must reach the ATO on or before the pay day — defined as the payment date stipulated in the electronic transaction to your financial institution or, if you didn't specify a date, the date you intend to make the payment into the employee's bank account. STP has been mandatory since 1 July 2018 for employers with 20 or more employees and 1 July 2019 for 19 or fewer.
The pay event carries each employee's year-to-date gross, allowances, deductions and PAYG withholding, plus the period totals for gross wages (BAS label W1) and withholding (W2). Out-of-cycle payments can go in their own pay event on or before that payment's pay day, or ride in the next regular pay event (by 30 June if the next cycle falls in a new financial year).
Since 1 July 2026 the payday clock also carries super. Under Payday Super — legislated by the Treasury Laws Amendment (Payday Superannuation) Act 2025, in force since assent on 6 November 2025 — SG contributions must be received by the employee's super fund within 7 business days after paying employees, with enough information for the fund to allocate them. That replaces the fixed quarterly due dates, which apply only to earnings paid up to 30 June 2026 (the final quarterly payment is due 28 July 2026).
A super contribution only counts as paid on the date it is received by the super fund — not the date a clearing house receives it. Build clearing-house processing time into your 7-business-day window.
Per period: BAS and IAS, by withholder size
STP tells the ATO what you withheld; it doesn't move the money. PAYG withholding is remitted on the activity-statement cycle, and the cycle is set by how much you withhold per year:
- Small withholders (annual withholding of $25,000 or less) report and pay quarterly — the quarterly activity statement is due the 28th of the month after quarter end: 28 October, 28 February, 28 April and 28 July. Lodging online can earn an extra 2 weeks on the quarterly BAS — except quarter 2, whose 28 February date already includes a one-month extension — and lodging through a registered tax or BAS agent may add more time.
- Medium withholders ($25,001 to $1 million) report and pay monthly, with the monthly activity statement due the 21st of the following month.
- Large withholders (more than $1 million withheld in a previous financial year, or part of a company group at that threshold) don't use activity statements for PAYG withholding at all. They pay electronically within 6–8 days of each withholding event, on a twice-weekly schedule set by the day withholding took place, using a unique Payment Reference Number (PRN).
GST-registered employers carry these amounts on the business activity statement (BAS), which also covers GST, PAYG instalments and other obligations. Payers with PAYG withholding only use the instalment activity statement (IAS) instead.
Per year: finalisation by 14 July
An STP finalisation declaration is due by 14 July each year, so employees can access finalised, "tax ready" income statements for their returns. Once finalised through STP, you don't provide payment summaries or lodge a payment summary annual report for STP-reported amounts — the annual report (due 14 August) survives only for amounts not reported through STP.
Closely held payees run later: the date is 30 September, and that applies both to employers with 20 or more employees who have closely held payees and to small employers with a mix of closely held and arm's-length payees. Small employers with only closely held payees have until the payee's own tax-return due date. Arm's-length employees of those employers stay on 14 July. If you can't finalise by your due date, you must apply for a deferral.
Per state: payroll tax returns
Every state or territory where you're registered for payroll tax adds its own cycle — typically a monthly return shortly after month end plus an annual reconciliation in July:
- NSW — monthly payment due 7 days after the end of each month (next business day if that falls on a weekend or public holiday). June isn't paid separately — it's folded into the annual return, due 28 July, which all registered businesses must lodge.
- VIC — monthly return and payment by the 7th of the next month, and you must report wages every month even when no tax is owed. The annual reconciliation is due 21 July; no monthly return is lodged for June.
- QLD — periodic returns (monthly or half-yearly) due 7 days after the end of the return period; the annual return is due 21 July, and a final return is due within 21 days of a change of status.
The state dates above are verified for NSW, VIC and QLD only. WA, SA, TAS, the ACT and the NT each run their own payroll tax return cycles with their own due dates and thresholds, which we haven't verified here — confirm directly with the relevant revenue office before building them into your calendar.
What happens when you're late
Late activity statements and late STP reports both attract the failure to lodge (FTL) on time penalty: one penalty unit for every 28 days (or part thereof) the document is overdue, capped at 5 units, then multiplied by entity size — ×2 for medium entities (medium withholder, or $1m–$20m income/turnover), ×5 for large entities (large withholder, or ≥$20m), and ×500 for significant global entities. A penalty unit is $364 for infringements on or after 1 July 2026 (it was $330 from 7 November 2024 to 30 June 2026) — so the ceiling runs from $1,820 for a small entity to $910,000 for a significant global entity.
In practice there's grace before the hammer: the ATO says it warns by phone or in writing before applying FTL, generally doesn't penalise isolated late lodgements, and a safe-harbour exemption protects you where a registered agent caused the lateness (unless the agent was reckless or intentionally disregarded the law). For STP specifically, the stated posture on consistently late reports is reminders first, with penalties possibly applied after the first year of STP reporting. Mistakes aren't lodgement failures either — a missed or incorrect report is fixed through up-to-date year-to-date figures in the next regular pay event, or an update event within 14 days.
STP also has formal relief valves, considered only in exceptional circumstances: operational deferrals (can't report for a period due to special circumstances), recurring deferrals (up to 3 extra business days per report where on-or-before-payday reporting is regularly impossible), and finalisation-declaration deferrals. Exemptions for a financial year exist for small employers (19 or fewer employees) with low digital capability or no reliable internet, or in exceptional circumstances — and WPN holders are exempt as a class until 30 June 2033. Exempt employers revert to the old regime: payment summaries and the annual report still apply.
Missing a super due date doesn't trigger FTL — it triggers the super guarantee charge (SGC). Under the quarterly regime (earnings paid up to 30 June 2026), you must lodge an SGC statement by the 28th of the month after the missed due date (28 Nov / 28 Feb / 28 May / 28 Aug) and pay a charge built from the shortfall — calculated on total salary and wages including overtime — plus 10% p.a. nominal interest and a $20 per employee, per quarter admin fee, none of it tax-deductible. From 1 July 2026, Payday Super redesigns the SGC: assessed by the ATO rather than self-assessed, calculated on qualifying earnings, with daily-compounding interest at the general interest charge rate and an administrative uplift reducible by voluntary disclosure — and the redesigned charge becomes tax deductible.
SuperStream — and the SBSCH is gone
You can't pay super by ordinary bank transfer with a remittance email. SuperStream is the way businesses must pay employee super guarantee contributions to super funds: money and data sent electronically, linked, in a standard format — via SuperStream-conformant payroll software, a super fund's system, or a clearing house.
The ATO's free Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (SBSCH) closed permanently on 1 July 2026, having closed to new users on 1 October 2025. Any payment the SBSCH receives on or after 1 July 2026 is returned to the employer within 7 business days. The ATO's named alternatives: payroll software with integrated super payments, commercial clearing houses, super funds offering clearing-house services, and SuperStream messaging portals.
The 1 July 2027 rejection rule
Payday Super also changes what STP itself must carry. From 1 July 2026, employers must report qualifying earnings and superannuation liability as year-to-date amounts for each employee, and OTE reporting is discontinued once qualifying-earnings reporting begins. From 1 July 2027, reporting that does not include both qualifying earnings and superannuation liability amounts will be rejected, and penalties may apply — both amounts are required, and omitting either triggers rejection.
Quick answers
When is the STP report due each payday?
On or before the pay day — the payment date stipulated in the electronic transaction to your financial institution or, if no date was specified, the date you intend to make the payment into the employee's bank account. A missed or incorrect report is corrected through up-to-date year-to-date figures in the next regular pay event, or an update event within 14 days where affected employees won't be paid again.
What are the activity statement due dates for PAYG withholding?
It depends on withholder size. Small withholders ($25,000 or less withheld per year) report and pay quarterly — 28 October, 28 February, 28 April and 28 July. Medium withholders ($25,001 to $1 million) report and pay monthly by the 21st of the following month. Large withholders (more than $1 million withheld in a previous year) pay electronically within 6–8 days of each withholding event on a twice-weekly schedule under a Payment Reference Number, and don't report PAYG withholding on activity statements at all. If a due date falls on a weekend or public holiday, you have until the next business day.
When is STP finalisation due?
14 July each year. For closely held payees the date is 30 September — that applies both to employers with 20 or more employees who have closely held payees and to small employers with a mix of closely held and arm's-length payees; small employers with only closely held payees have until the payee's own tax-return due date. Arm's-length employees of those employers stay on 14 July. If you can't finalise by the due date you must apply for a deferral.
When does super have to reach the fund under Payday Super?
From 1 July 2026, super guarantee contributions must be received by the employee's super fund within 7 business days after paying employees, with enough information for the fund to allocate the contribution. A contribution only counts as paid on the date the fund receives it — not the date a clearing house receives it. The quarterly 28-day due dates apply only to employee earnings paid up to 30 June 2026; the final quarterly payment, for the April–June 2026 quarter, is due 28 July 2026.
Four clocks, one pay run
Ledra Pay lodges STP on or before every payday, keeps W1/W2 aligned with your activity-statement cycle, and gets super moving inside the Payday Super window — with an auditable evidence trail behind every lodgement and due date. No spreadsheet calendar, no missed 28ths.
See Australian payroll →Government sources
- Australian Taxation Office — Rules of reporting through STP (on-or-before-payday rule, pay-day definition, W1/W2, out-of-cycle payments).
- ATO — What is STP? (mandatory from 1 July 2018 / 1 July 2019).
- ATO — Due dates for lodging and paying your BAS (quarterly 28ths, monthly 21st, next-business-day rule, online extension).
- ATO — PAYG withholding for small and medium withholders (size thresholds and cycles).
- ATO — PAYG withholding for large withholders (6–8-day electronic payment, twice-weekly schedule, PRN, no activity-statement reporting).
- ATO — IAS I – instalment activity statement (NAT 4193, PAYG withholding only).
- ATO — End-of-year finalisation through STP (14 July; closely held dates; deferral requirement).
- ATO — PAYG withholding and instalments due dates (payment summary annual report, 14 August).
- Revenue NSW — Monthly return and Annual return (7 days after month end; 28 July).
- State Revenue Office Victoria — Lodge your monthly return and Lodge your annual reconciliation (7th of next month; 21 July).
- Queensland Revenue Office — Payroll tax due dates (periodic 7 days after period end; annual 21 July).
- ATO — Failure to lodge on time penalty (FTL mechanics, size multipliers, warning and safe-harbour practice).
- ATO — Penalty units ($364 from 1 July 2026; $330 from 7 November 2024 to 30 June 2026).
- ATO — STP reporting issues and errors (correction mechanics; posture on late reports).
- ATO — STP deferrals and Exemptions from STP reporting.
- ATO — The super guarantee charge (SGC statement dates and components — earnings paid up to 30 June 2026 only).
- ATO — Paying electronically through SuperStream.
- ATO — Super payment due dates (quarterly 28ths for earnings paid up to 30 June 2026; received-by-fund rule).
- ATO — About Payday Super (7-business-day rule; SGC redesign; SBSCH closure to new users).
- ATO — The SBSCH has closed permanently (closure 1 July 2026; returned payments; alternatives).
- ATO — STP reporting under Payday Super (qualifying earnings and super liability YTD; 1 July 2027 rejection rule).
- Federal Register of Legislation — Treasury Laws Amendment (Payday Superannuation) Act 2025 (No. 57 of 2025, in force).