Legislation introducing the Superannuation Guarantee Amnesty (the amnesty) has been passed in Parliament and is awaiting Royal Assent.
The amnesty provides employers with a heavy incentive to disclose and rectify accordingly, any historic non-compliance with their superannuation guarantee (SG) obligations. Now is the time for employers to urgently commence review of their historic SG compliance and not miss the window in which the amnesty will be applied.
What super guarantee quarters are covered by the amnesty?
The amnesty will cover all quarters from 1 July 1992 and ending 31 March 2018.
What are the tax benefits for employers under the amnesty?
Employers are not “off the hook” and must pay all super owed to their employees however the amnesty takes away penalties usually associated with late payment, in short:
- The administrative component of the SG charge is not payable
- No penalties will be imposed
- Payments of the SG charge made during the amnesty period are tax deductible.
When is the amnesty period?
The amnesty period commences from 24 May 2018 and ends six months after the day the legislation receives Royal Assent.
What happens if an employer with a SG shortfall does not come forward?
Harsh penalties will be applied if employers do not take advantage of this one off opportunity to self-correct. The additional penalty that can be applied to unpaid SG amounts will be set at a minimum rate of 100% of the shortfall as the commissioners ability to remit penalties will be limited, SGC payments will be higher and no deductions will be accessible on payments made.
The ATO will continue its usual audit and investigation process throughout the amnesty period and penalties will still be enforced upon employers who do not voluntarily self disclose any non-compliance related to SGC, the amnesty will not be applicable in this instance.
How can Keeping Company help?
We can work with you in reviewing your company’s historic SG compliance and make any necessary disclosures to the ATO. Given the short timeframe available to take advantage of the amnesty, we advise that this process should commence immediately.
Another significant incentive to take advantage of the amnesty is that company directors can be made personally liable for SG shortfalls under the director penalty regime.
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