As an employer you and your employees can agree to set up a Workplace Giving Program. Workplace giving is optional but can be an effective way for employees to regularly donate to charities or organisations that are entitled to receive tax deductible donations.
Please note the ATO states that an employee’s workplace information is subject to privacy laws. You cannot release information to participating charities without the express written permission of each employee.
Refer to the Australian Taxation Office website for more information on the Workplace Giving Program:
The following is the setup of Workplace Giving Program deductions in MicrOpay that will allow your employees to have an immediate tax benefit if you create a deduction before tax OR create a deduction after tax and the employee will receive the benefit when they complete their tax return.
You will need to discuss all details of this program with your employee and decide on the option that is best for your company and employees.
Step One – Create the Deduction Code
Go to Payroll, Maintenance, General, Additions and Deductions and select Add.
Enter a Code, Shortcut Key and Description.
Select either Deduction Before Tax or Deduction After Tax as the Category.
Select Type, this is usually Amount.
If an agreed amount has been confirmed for all employees select enter the value in Amount. Leave this blank if the value will vary.
Click on the STP Reporting tab.
For STP Phase 2 the Reporting Group is Deduction Items.
Select Workplace Giving as the Reporting Subgroup.
Click OK to save the changes.
Step Two - Attach it to the Employee
Go to Payroll, Maintenance, Employees, Employees and Edit the Employee.
Select Additions & Deductions.
Click Add and select the Deduction you created above.
If you included a Value in the Deduction, tick Use Default. If not, untick Use Default and enter the Amount per Pay.
OK to save the deduction and OK again to save the employee.
Note: The workplace giving program does not affect the way your employees' gross income, super guarantee payments or how fringe benefits are worked out. You will need to check that your Employer Compulsory Superannuation calculates on the full gross income on superable pay components and not the reduced amount, if you create a deduction before tax for the workplace giving deduction.