PAYG
Income statement
An income statement is the ATO record of your employment income and tax withheld, reported by employers through Single Touch Payroll and used to complete your tax return.
An income statement is an online summary of your employment income and the tax withheld from it, reported to the ATO by your employer through Single Touch Payroll. It replaces the paper payment summary for most employees. You can view it through your ATO online account, accessed via myGov, and it is often pre-filled into your tax return as the year ends.
The statement is marked either tax ready or not tax ready. Tax ready means the employer has finalised the information for the year, so it is complete and safe to use. If it is not tax ready, the employer has not yet confirmed the final figures, and lodging early could result in errors, so it is usually best to wait. Check the status when preparing your return.
The income statement shows items such as gross payments, tax withheld, reportable fringe benefits amounts and reportable super contributions where applicable. It can also list allowances and lump sums. It does not show your deductions or other income, such as interest and dividends, which you add when you do your return or which may be prefilled from other sources.
If your statement looks wrong, for example if the income seems too high or low or you did not work for the listed employer, contact the employer first and ask them to fix it through their payroll system. If that is not possible, contact the ATO. Do not simply change the figures in your tax return, because the ATO compares what you lodge with what employers report.
Income statements also help with checking that your employer is paying withholding and, in some cases, super. Compare your payslips with the statement. Missing or incorrect amounts can indicate payroll problems. Workers with multiple jobs will have an income statement for each employer, and all must be included in the return.
Contractors and business owners do not receive income statements for business income, so they must rely on their own records. Keep your payslips for five years in case of queries. This is general information only, so confirm what applies to you with the ATO or a registered tax professional.
Worked example
Ivan has two jobs. His main employer's income statement is tax ready and shows $60,000 gross and $11,000 tax withheld. His second employer's statement shows $8,000 and $1,200 and is marked not tax ready. Ivan waits until it is finalised, then lodges his return including both statements, together with the deductions he has records for.
Practical tips
- Wait until each statement shows tax ready before lodging your return.
- Ask your employer to correct errors in the statement rather than changing the figures yourself.
- Compare your payslips to the income statement to catch missing withholding or other payroll problems.