Australia Payroll Compliance: What is Study Training and Support Loans(STSL), and how it is implemented in Deskera People?

Janhavi Wagh -

What is Study Training and Support Loans(STSL)?

The government provides financial assistance (in the form of loans) like STSL to people undertaking higher education, trade apprenticeships and other training programs.

Information on the different type of loans that fall into the STSL category can be found here. From 1 July 2019, all study and training loans were consolidated into one set of thresholds and rates. In addition, the hierarchy in which compulsory repayments are applied to study and training loans (relevant to employees who have more than one type of loan) was changed to the following:

  • Higher Education Loan Program (HELP);
  • VET Student Loans (VSL);
  • Student Financial Supplement Scheme (SFSS);
  • Student Start-up Loan (SSL);
  • ABSTUDY Student Start-up Loan (ABSTUDY SSL);
  • Trade Support Loan (TSL).

The withholding amounts for employees who have a study and training support loans debt can be expressed in a mathematical form.

* The formulas comprise linear equations of the form y = ax, where:

  • y is the weekly study and training support loans component
  • x is the weekly earnings – or weekly equivalent of earnings – rounded down to whole dollars plus 99 cents
  • a is the value of the component rate as shown in the following tables.

The amount of STSL deducted in a pay run depends on the pay run's frequency. You can access the ATO STSL tax tables here based on the applicable pay frequency:

How is STSL implemented in Deskera People?

Deskera People has implemented STSL calculation in the system, which will auto calculate your STSL amount and make it easier for your  tax calculation.

Below are the simple steps,

  1. Go to Employees>>Employee List>>Add/Edit employees>>Under Tax Details Tab ,
STSL Enabled

To get the SLSL amount, simply enable the Study Training and Support Loan checkbox.

2. To view the amount, go to payroll module>>payrun>>Select the payrun>>Process Paurun>>View Summary, below window will appear.

Under Deduction column, you can view the auto calculated SLSL amount only after the STSL check box is ticked under Employee Tax Details Section.