The ATO will be waiving penalties for the hundreds of businesses who have admitted failures to pay superannuation to their staff after a ‘botched’ amnesty.
An amnesty was rolled out in May of 2018, which offered employers who failed to pay super entitlements stretching back to the 1990s a “clean slate.” Unpaid super is estimated as being worth up to a whopping $6 billion a year in Australia, with the government hoping this initiative would encourage employers to pay their workers super entitlements.
While the policy has been dumped, the amnesty for employers will still run for 12 months. Anyone failing to use this amnesty as a time to declare their past wrongdoings is warned they will face penalties in the future to the sum of half the money owed, on top of the unpaid super.
Employers who have already made claims to the ATO are being treated as though they had voluntarily reported themselves under current rules. This means they must repay unpaid super as well as interest to the employee and an administration fee per employee of $20 per quarter.
To be eligible for the superannuation amnesty, businesses will need to:
- Not be subject to an audit of your Superannuation Guarantee (SG) for the relevant periods
- Voluntarily disclosed amounts of SG shortfall or late payments that have not been previously disclosed for any period from 1 July 1992 to 31 March 2018
- Made the voluntary within the proposed 12-month amnesty period (24 May 2018 to 23 May 2019)
If you are unsure whether you are meeting your superannuation requirements effectively, give us a ring on 07 3367 0852 or email us at mail@raaccountants.com.au