Superannuation Guarantee amnesty announced

Kelly O’Dwyer, the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services has introduced a 12-month amnesty for employers to pay late superannuation guarantee entitlements.

The Government estimate as much as $28 billion remains unpaid, however, you need to be careful with figures like this, as often detail tells a different story.

With the introduction of Single Touch Payroll set to be the biggest change since GST, this is an opportunity small business should look at.

It’s far better to check your figures and work out if you’ve missed paying anyone than have an audit from the ATO.

The incentive to take the amnesty is not great, but you won’t be charged the penalties which could often be as high as 50% on unpaid super, so it is probably worthwhile.

It is important with all these changes and tightening of labour laws that you are correctly staffed. You don't want to be over-staffed at the moment given there is little flexibility in the system, and this might be a good opportunity for you to contact your local TaxAssist Accountant store and look at your business KPIs. In addition, you can ask about this new single touch payroll system starting.

The Single Touch Payroll system starts for big business in July this year and 12 months later it starts for small business with 20 employees or less.

It's early days, but I think it will be too complex for many small business and they will require the assistance of their account and this will be a good opportunity for accountants to assist local business.

Contact your local TaxAssist Accountant today to see how we can help.

Date published 8 Jun 2018

This article is intended to inform rather than advise and is based on legislation and practice at the time. Taxpayer’s circumstances do vary and if you feel that the information provided is beneficial it is important that you contact us before implementation. If you take, or do not take action as a result of reading this article, before receiving our written endorsement, we will accept no responsibility for any financial loss incurred.