specification / software developers / DECEMBER2015 / UNCLASSIFIED
format / Audience / Date / Classification
Electronic reporting specification
Self-printing employee share scheme statement – Employee summaries version 1.0.1
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UNCLASSIFIED / ELECTRONIC REPORTING SPECIFICATION – SELF-PRINTING EMPLOYEE SHARE SCHEME STATEMENT – EMPLOYEE SUMMARIES
Changes in this version of the specification
Differences between version 1.0 and version 1.0.1
General key changes
- Definitions table has been updated
- Software Industry Liaison Unit (SILU) has been changed to Software Industry Partnership Office (SIPO)
ACRONYMS
Acronym / DescriptionABN / Australian business number
ESS / employee share scheme
SIPO / software industry partnership office
TFN / tax file number
DEFINITIONS
Term / DescriptionEmployee / For the purposes of this document, an employee is defined as a participant and owner of Employee share scheme interests.
Reporting party / A reporting party is an entity that provides an Employee share scheme to employees. It is the responsibility of the reporting party to ensure that the Employee share scheme (ESS) annual report is completed correctly and lodged with the ATO by the due date.
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UNCLASSIFIED / ELECTRONIC REPORTING SPECIFICATION – SELF-PRINTING EMPLOYEE SHARE SCHEME STATEMENT – EMPLOYEE SUMMARIES
Table of contents
1 Introduction
About this specification
Who should use this specification
Who should self-print?
Explanation of specification
2 Self-testing Process
Self-testing procedures
Summary variations
Listing products on the Software developers homepage website
About the Software developers homepage website and Product register
3 Summary specifications
Quality of print
Number of copies
Format for original summaries
Format for amended summaries
Notice to employee
4 Electronic summaries
Employee consent
Providing electronic summaries to employees
Providing paper summaries to employees
Security of summary information
5 More information
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1Introduction
About this specification
This specification introduces standard formats for the new Employee share scheme statement - employee summary.
–This summary is used to report Employee share scheme interests information and is provided to individuals participating in employee share scheme(s) to complete the individual income tax return with the required information.
Who should use this specification
This specificationis to be used when developing software for the printing of summaries relating to employee share schemes after 30 June2015.
This specification is intended for use by:
- commercial software developers
- ESS providers developing in-house software
- computer service providers developing in-house software, and
- ESS providers who intend to provide employees with an electronic summary.
An electronic summary is defined as a non-editable data file which satisfies the requirements of this specification and is transmitted to the employee via electronic means. For additional information refer to section 4Electronic summaries.
Who should self-print?
Self-printing of summaries on plain paper is available to ESS providers who lodge their Employee share scheme (ESS) annual report to the ATO. Self-printed summaries must be in a format acceptable to the ATO and be printed to an acceptable printing standard. If the summary is sent to the employee electronically, they must be able to print the summary to the same acceptable standard. For information about the acceptable printing standard, please refer to section 3Summary specifications.
Explanation of specification
This specification outlines the requirements for self-printing employee share schemestatement – employee summaries that are covered by the Employee share scheme (ESS) annual report.
Standard formats apply for the employee share schemestatement – employee summary.
This specification also introduces standard formatsfor producing an amended summary for the above summary.
2 Self-testing Process
Self-testing procedures
The approval procedure for the self-testing process for self-printing summaries on plain paper is as follows.
- Software developers self-test the summaries produced by their products against the requirements of this specification.Refer to section 3Summary specifications.
- If summaries meet the requirements of this specification, software developers complete a declaration on the ATO’s Software developershomepage Product register for the summary types that are supported by their product(s). Approval is effective upon completion of the declaration.
- There is no requirement for in-house developers to lodge a declaration.
Summary variations
Variations to the ATO layouts for the summaries are not permitted, however the use of a company logo is acceptable providing it does not alter the position of any of the boxes or wording of the layout.
Listing products on the Software developers homepage website
Lodging the declaration automatically lists the products on the Software developershomepage Product register. Software developers that have listed their product on the Product register may direct users to the website at for confirmation that the product has met ATO requirements.
For more information on the Product register, contact the Software Industry Partnership Office(SIPO) on 1300 139 052.
About the Software developers homepage website and Product register
As part of an initiative to encourage businesses to adopt an electronic accounting method, the Software developershomepage website at has been designed to facilitate a partnership between the software development industry and the ATO.
This relationship will be used to develop software packages that will assist business clients to meet their tax obligations.
The website is hosted by the ATO and aims to assist software developers (in-house and commercial) and business by providing the following:
- a self-testing model allowing software developers to check their product, package, program or system against ATO test scenarios or relevant format testing
- access to information relevant to all software developers to assist in the development of tax-related software, and
- a software product register which tax agents and businesses can access to find products that will assist in meeting tax-related obligations.
Commercial developers will need to register on the site for access to the product register in order to list and manage products. Developers who do not need to register in order to list products may still receive emails detailing significant issues by using the subscription service available from the site. Registering or subscribing for updates is recommended for both in-house and commercial software developers.
For more information on the Software developers homepage website and the Product register,contact the SIPO:
- phone 1300 139 052, or
3 Summary specifications
Quality of print
Printed summaries should be of letter quality print or laser printed so that they may be easily read. This is the requirement where the ESS provider either:
- prints the summary and provides it to the employee, or
- provides an electronic summary to the employee for them to print.
Number of copies
ESS providers or employees who self-print summaries are required to print only onepaper copy. There is no requirement to attach a summary when lodging an individual income tax return with the ATO.
Format for original summaries
All self-printed summaries must:
- be printed on a standard A4 size paper, and
- have the same layout as one of the two ATO self-print formats
This specification allows for two formats. One format will suit window-face envelopes and the other will suit a z-fold format.
All headings and boxes on self-printed summaries must be in the same location and of a similar size and font as that shown in the ATO layouts. In addition, employee information that is printed in any of the sections should be no smaller than 10pt Arial or 12pt Times New Roman, or similar fonts, to ensure that it is legible.
The year for which the summary refers to must be displayed on a summary after the title Employee share scheme statement: Employee summary for year ending 30 June.
The employee details section of the window-faced summary format contains a large amount of blank space for the employee name and postal address to be printed to suit window-faced envelopes. The employee name and postal address details can be printed anywhere within that area. However, the Notice to Employee must appear on either the left or right of the employee name and address block and must not be visible through the window.
The z-fold summary format will contain blank space to cover the top third of the page. The employee’s name and address is to be entered within this area as a postal address.
Self-printed summaries must be printed on a standard A4 size paper.
Where available, the date of birth for all employees should be recorded in the Employee share scheme (ESS) annual report that is provided to the ATO. However, the employee’s date of birth is not required to be recorded on self-printed summaries.
The approved layouts can be downloaded from the Software developershomepage website at
Format for amended summaries
Standard layouts have been provided for producing these types of amended self printed summaries. The rules for paper size, print standards and adherence to ATO layouts are the same for both original and amended summaries of these types.
The approved layouts can be downloaded from the Software developershomepage website at
Notice to employee
The self-print summary formats for all summaries have different notices to employee depending on whether they are original or amended. These notices are incorporated in the summary layouts and must be included on each self-printed summary.
4 Electronic summaries
An electronic summary is a summary provided by electronic means. An electronic summary:
- can only be provided as a non-editable data file
- must satisfy the requirements of this specification, and
- is transmitted to the employee by electronic means.
The summary must be in a format which can be readily printed by the employee so they can use it to complete their tax return.
All summary types and formats can be issued electronically.
Employee consent
ESS providers who intend to provide summaries to their employees electronically must obtain the consent of each employee.
Providing electronic summaries to employees
ESS providers must tell their employees that the electronic summaries are available and ensure that the employees know how to access and print them. Summaries printed by employees should be of letter quality print or laser printed.
Providing paper summaries to employees
If employees request paper summaries, the ESS providers must be able to provide the employees with paper summaries.
Security of summary information
The ESS provider will need to ensure the method chosen to distribute electronic summaries to employees is secure enough to meet ESS provider obligations under privacy and taxation legislation to protect tax file numbers and other information belonging to employees.
5 More information
For more information about this specification:
- phone 13 28 66
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