The Morrison Government is protecting the rights of Australian workers to their superannuation.
Legislation which passed the Parliament today gives the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) the information and tools it needs to identify and prosecute employers who are not paying super for their employees. This legislation is the most comprehensive action any Government has taken to address non-compliance with superannuation guarantee law since its introduction in 1992.
In cases where employers defy directions to pay their superannuation guarantee liabilities, the ATO can now for the first time apply for court-ordered penalties, including up to 12 months’ imprisonment.
The Morrison Government’s legislation also gives the ATO new enforcement and collection powers, including strengthened arrangements for director penalty notices.
Employers should know the ATO will be able to closely monitor superannuation compliance, and employers will face severe consequences for ripping off their workers.
The new laws also extend Single Touch Payroll reporting to all employers from 1 July 2019, giving the ATO up to date information about the amounts of superannuation that employers owe their employees.
The use of Single Touch Payroll streamlines employer reporting processes associated with hiring new employees, by providing digital services for completion of tax file number declarations and superannuation standard choice forms.
In an important improvement to transparency, the ATO will be able to inform employees about the action being taken to recover unpaid superannuation.
The amendments simplify administrative processes for transition to retirement income streams (TRIS), enabling TRIS to be paid at death to a member’s eligible dependants without the TRIS having to be commuted and a new income stream started.
The legislation will remove double taxation of deferred annuities purchased by superannuation funds and providers of retirement savings accounts to enable payment of a deferred superannuation income stream.
