Newsletter
May/June 2017 Newsletter
Super guarantee non-compliance: Senate Committee report
On 2 May 2017, the Senate Economics References Committee released its report into Superannuation Guarantee (SG) non-payment, calling for the ATO to take a more proactive stance in identifying and addressing SG non-compliance. As part of its inquiry, the committee heard that employers failed to pay $5.6 billion in SG contributions in 2013–2014, affecting 2.76 million employees who lost over $2,000 on average in a single year.
Other key recommendations include:
• requiring monthly contributions (instead of quarterly);
• removing the current $450 monthly threshold for SG eligibility;
• ensuring salary sacrificed contributions cannot count towards the employer’s compulsory SG obligation, and do not reduce the earnings base upon which SG is calculated;
• strengthening the ATO’s ability to recover SG liabilities through the director penalty notice (DPN) framework to stop directors undertaking fraudulent phoenix activity; and
• amending the Fair Work Regulations 2009 to require payslips to display further details about super contributions.