Employers that have fallen behind with their Super Guarantee obligations may be given the ability to 'self-correct' under the resurrected Superannuation Guarantee Amnesty.
Currently before Parliament, if enacted, the amnesty will give employers a 6 month period to voluntarily disclose underpaid, or unpaid, Super Guarantee payments to the Commissioner of Taxation. The amnesty will apply for any period up to the March 2018 quarter.
Employers must disclose the outstanding Super Guarantee to the Tax Commissioner in order to qualify for the amnesty. As the amnesty only applies to voluntary disclosures, if the ATO discovers an underpayment - regardless of whether this is discovered in the amnesty period or not - full penalties apply. The amnesty also does not apply to amounts that have already been identified as owing, or where the employer is subject to an ATO audit. The only way to quality for the amnesty is to voluntarily disclose any outstanding Super Guarantee to the Taxation Commissioner.
Once disclosed, employers must pay the full amount owing, or enter into a payment plan with the ATO. If a payment plan is arranged and payments are not met, the amnesty will no longer apply.
If an employer fails to meet their quarterly Super Guarantee payment on time, they must pay the Super Guarantee Charge (SGC). Without the amnesty, the SGC is made up of:
The outstanding SG entitlements
Interest of 10% per annum
An administration fee of $20 for each employee with a shortfall per quarter
Penalties of up to 200% of the amount of the SGC
With the amnesty, the SGC is comprised of:
The outstanding Super Guarantee entitlements
Interest of 10% per annum
No administration fee
No penalty
If an employer does not take advantage of the amnesty, and is found to have underpaid employee Super Guarantee, they are required to pay the full SGC outlined above.
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