In a move to ultimately strengthen its grip on timely super guarantee (SG) payments, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has introduced some punishments for any employers who fail to meet the SG payment deadlines or even submit super guarantee charge statements on time.
Let’s take a closer look at how these advancements are changing the landscape for SG compliance and what potential benefits there are for both employees and employers.
How STP 2 Will Be Used
The CEO of Insyt, Darren Wynen, mentions the ATO’s increased audit activity when it comes to SG payments – moving from traditional checks to a far more detailed analysis of quarterly payment timelines by using STP 2 software.
He reflects on how, in the past, accountants would simply just verify if the 11 percent of wages met the required criteria, but with STP 2 by their side, the ATO is now able to scrutinise payment patterns throughout the year so they can spot any quarters that might have delayed SG payments or outstanding super guarantee charge statements.
How Do Corporate Plan Changes Impact Businesses?
As part of its 2022–23 Corporate Plan, the ATO brought up how they would plan to use STP slightly more so they could get a more consolidated view of an employee’s superannuation guarantee data across all of their super funds and employers – and this is ultimately so they can intervene in any cases of employer non-compliance.
What Are The Benefits?
Wynen also talked about a few of the potential advantages that might come with this data-matching initiative – how it could generally minimise super guarantee charges since it’s able to address late payments before they end up accumulating fairly large amounts of interest over time.
Essentially, Wynen believes this will be a huge help for clients who are undergoing audits since the ATO intervening from early on could generally prevent you from being left with a heap of interest/charges.
Furthermore, Wynen shed some light on a few of the most common causes of late payments in the first place, mainly attributing them to minor misunderstandings regarding some of the rules and nuances in payment timing.
For instance, he pointed out that oftentimes, employers can think that the second a payment reaches the clearinghouse, the contribution has actually been made, so this just further highlights the need for greater clarity around some of these intricacies.
Face These Changes Confidently with Advisory One
Without the right support, it can be pretty complicated to wrap your head around some of these regulatory changes.
You don’t need to go into this alone. Contact our experienced team of professionals so you can stay compliant with super guarantee payments and ultimately reduce your risk of charges.
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