PAYG
Definition
Australias Pay As You Go arrangements. PAYG withholding is tax an employer withholds from employee wages and remits to the ATO; PAYG instalments are periodic prepayments a business or individual makes against its own expected income tax.
Related Terms in Payroll
Single Touch Payroll (STP)
The Australian regime requiring employers to report salary, tax withheld and superannuation to the ATO electronically each time they run payroll, rather than in an annual summary. Employees see the reported figures through their myGov income statement.
Payroll Liabilities
Amounts owed as a result of running payroll but not yet paid out: net wages, income tax withheld, social-security and pension contributions, and any garnishments. They are liabilities held on behalf of employees and agencies, not business expenses in their own right.
Payroll Journal Entry
The entry recording a pay run, debiting gross wages and employer contributions to expense and crediting net pay plus each withholding and contribution liability. Settling those liabilities later is a separate entry that clears them to zero.
FICA
The US Federal Insurance Contributions Act tax funding Social Security and Medicare, withheld from employee wages and matched by the employer. The Social Security portion applies only up to an annual wage base, and an additional Medicare amount applies above a set income level; both figures are published yearly by the IRS and SSA.
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