Reduce super red tape, says Link Group

Superannuation administrator Link Group has called on the Federal Government to reduce red tape surrounding employer Super Guarantee (SG) contributions by abolishing the $3800 fine levied on employers that do not conform to data standards.

Link Group said the fine was over-the-top and the wording ambiguous as it did not clarify whether it would be imposed on every non-complying member payment, or on every non-conforming batch of payments.

Link Group managing director John McMurtrie said that small business SG payments should be made through the Medicare clearing house with the gateway administered through the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) website.

"Leave it to the market, the market's got the solutions," he said.

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McMurtrie said employers' uptake of electronic payment standards was increasing, with approximately 50 per cent of its clients' employer groups doing away with cheques — a figure that was rising 2-3 per cent every quarter.

The regulators also had too heavy a hand in auto-consolidation proposals, which could easily be resolved by members and advisers once the Australian Taxation Office's (ATO's) new tax file number (TFN) system was in place, McMurtrie said. However he indicated he thought the legislation would be dropped by the new Government.

"It is fair to say that we think perhaps some of the initiatives of (the previous) Government have been a bit too red tape-oriented," he said.

"The real solution here will come from the industry working together, not Big Brother actually imposing yet again more red tape.

"We'd rather see people make their own choices," he said.

The onerous task of rolling over member accounts was an area where the industry had proved it could work together to achieve optimal outcomes for members, with new processes developed by the Affiliation of Superannuation Practitioners, according to McMurtrie.