Superannuation Guarantee amnesty legislation re-tabled
Published November 26, 2019
The legislation to establish a one-off amnesty for historical underpayment of superannuation guarantee (SG) has been re-introduced in a bill to go before parliament.
The Bill encourages employers to come forward and do the right thing by their employees by paying any unpaid superannuation in full.
Should the Bill be passed, Employers will still be required to pay all that is owing to their employees, including interest. However, the amnesty will encourage employers to come forward and pay outstanding superannuation, by not hitting them with the penalties usually associated with late payment.
Employers who do not take advantage of the one-off amnesty will face significantly higher penalties when they are subsequently caught - typically employers will face a minimum 100 per cent penalty on top of the SG Charge they owe.
The superannuation guarantee charge includes the full amount of SG owed to employees, interest on the SG owed of 10 per cent, and an administration fee. In addition, throughout the amnesty period the ATO will still continue its usual enforcement activity against employers for historical obligations they do not own up to voluntarily.
The amnesty was originally announced in May 2018 to apply from 24 May 2018 until 23 May 2019, but the legislation to establish the amnesty did not pass the last parliament.
Until the proposed amnesty law is enacted by Parliament, the Australian Tax Office will continue to apply the existing law to the SGC statements you lodge with us.
More information can be found at: https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Super-for-employers/Proposed-Superannuation-Guarantee-Amnesty/
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