If you’re facing difficulties in keeping up with superannuation contributions for your employees, assistance is available from accountants in Sydney.
On 24 May, the government announced a one-off, twelve-month amnesty for historical underpayment of superannuation guarantee without penalty. Once the legislation is passed, employers will have until 23 May 2019 to voluntarily disclose outstanding superannuation guarantee shortfalls.
To access the amnesty, you should use either:
- Complete and lodge the SG Amnesty Fund Payment form with the ATO, and pay the amounts owing directly to your employee’s superannuation funds.
- If you need a payment plan, complete and lodge the SG Amnesty ATO Payment form with the ATO. After you’ve lodged this form, the ATO will contact you to arrange a payment plan. Remember, all payments under the plan must be made by 23 May 2019 for your contributions to be tax deductible.
The amnesty will generally apply to all late superannuation payments from 1992 through to March 2018 (i.e. any contributions that had a due date before 28 April 2018). While penalties won’t apply, nominal interest must be paid to the employee’s superannuation fund. Payments made under the amnesty before 23 May 2019 will be tax deductible.
Until the legislation is enacted, the existing law applies. This means that if you take advantage of the amnesty before it becomes law and it ultimately does not come into effect, your contributions will not be tax deductible. You will need to amend your self-assessments to include administrative penalties.
While in many cases, it might be appropriate to wait until after the legislation has passed to self-assess under the amnesty, it is essential to note that you are not eligible for the amnesty for any periods subject to a superannuation guarantee audit. In other words, if an audit of your superannuation guarantee obligations starts while you wait for the amnesty legislation to pass, you will not be eligible.
If you make late payments for periods from the June 2018 quarter, the ATO will enforce all penalties, and the late contributions will not be tax deductible. You should therefore ensure that you make all future superannuation contributions on time (i.e. by the 28th day of the month following the end of each quarter).
Kreston Stanley Williamson Team
*Correct as of June 2018
Disclaimer – Kreston Stanley Williamson has produced this article to serve its clients and associates. The information contained in the article is of general comment only and is not intended to be advice on any particular matter. Before acting on any areas in this article, you must seek advice about your circumstances. Liability is limited by a scheme approved under professional standards legislation.
