Time to recertify your superannuation obligation, a once-off amnesty on superannuation guarantee (SG) will apply from 24 May 2018 for employers to self-correct historical SG compliance.
Since 1 July 1992, when the Superannuation Guarantee Assessment Act was enacted, employers have needed to provide a minimum level of superannuation support for employees. Generally speaking, this included making a payment of superannuation guarantee which was calculated as a percentage of an employee’s ordinary time earnings for a particular period.
An employer is required to make the superannuation guarantee payment for an employee within 28 days of the end of that particular financial quarter. The payment must be made on an employee’s behalf to a complying Australian superannuation fund.
Failure to make these payments results in the ATO levying the employer with the SG charge. The SG charge is:
• total of the individual SG shortfalls for each employee for the quarter
• a nominal interest component calculated by regulations, and
• an administrative chare which is $20 per employee per quarter.
Unlike regular employer superannuation contributions, SG charge payments are not tax deductible for the employer (ITAA 1997 s 26-95).
