The Government has declared that it is unacceptable for people to not be paid their superannuation entitlements, releasing further superannuation reforms aimed at making employers meet their super obligations to their workers.
The draft laws, announced by the minister for Revenue and Financial Services, Kelly O’Dwyer, last week, extend single touch payroll to all employers from 1 July, 2019. The Government hoped that this would improve reporting of super obligations.
This, combined with the event-based reporting already coming into force on 1 July this year, would improve the Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO’s) ability to get real-time information about employers’ compliance.
O’Dwyer’s office said that this would assist the ATO in early detection of breaches and help it proactively prevent the non-payment of superannuation.
The proposed laws also make the consequences of breaching superannuation obligations more serious for employers.
“The ATO will have a suite of enforcement and collection tools, including strengthened arrangements for director penalty notices and security deposits for superannuation and other tax-related liabilities,” O’Dwyer’s office warned.
The ATO would, for the first time, have the ability to apply for court-ordered penalties, including up to a years’ imprisonment. It would also be able to require employers to undertake training.
The new measures followed the Superannuation Guarantee Cross-Agency Working Group’s recommendations.
The research house has offered a silver lining after super fund returns saw the end of a five-month streak last month.
A survey of almost 6,000 fund members has identified weakening retirement confidence, particularly among those under 55 years of age, signalling an opportunity for super funds to better engage with members on their retirement journey.
The funds have confirmed the signing of a successor fund transfer deed, moving closer to creating a new $29 billion entity.
A number of measures, including super on Paid Parental Leave, funding to recover unpaid super, and frameworks to encourage investment in the energy transition, have been welcomed by the superannuation industry.
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