Issue 658, 29 January 2018
In this issue:
- Super Guarantee, single touch payroll and fund reporting: consultation
Super Guarantee, single touch payroll and fund reporting: consultation
Treasury has released draft legislation setting out a range of ‘integrity measures’ around superannuation guarantee (SG) compliance and ATO reporting by employers and funds. These measures are designed to implement a number of recent government announcements (see ASFA Action issue 642). The measures also reflect the introduction by the ATO of a new, ‘event-based reporting’ regime from 1 July 2018, to replace the annual member contributions statement.
The SG-related reforms proposed in the Bill include:
- enabling the Commissioner of Taxation to issue directions to an employer who fails to comply with their SG obligations, for example directions to pay outstanding SG obligations or undertake education in relation to their obligations
- permitting the Commissioner to disclose to an individual information relating to a failure or suspected failure by their employer or former employer to comply with their SG obligations
- strengthening the director penalty provisions for directors who fail to comply with their SG and PAYG withholding obligations.
The Bill also proposes a number of amendments to the single touch payroll (STP) reporting requirements, including:
- broadening the STP requirements—which involve employers providing payroll and superannuation information to the ATO at the time the amounts are paid or withheld—to apply to all employers from 1 July 2019, regardless of the number of employees
- requiring employers to report salary sacrificed amounts paid to their employees’ superannuation funds under the STP reporting rules and removing a current requirement for employers to report SG contributions paid to superannuation providers (these will now be reported by funds, under the event-based reporting regime).
Finally, the Bill proposes a number of amendments to funds’ ATO reporting obligations, including:
- allowing the Commissioner to give superannuation providers a grace period for correcting false or misleading statements in relation to member information statements (mandatory data reported to the ATO), without giving rise to penalties
- reintroducing a lapsed measure to remove the requirement for superannuation funds to lodge with the ATO bi-annual statements for lost members.
If you have any feedback on the draft legislation you would like ASFA to consider including in a submission to Treasury, please forward it to Julia Stannard by close of business Friday 9 February.
ASFA REGULATORY WATCHLIST
ASFA’s Regulatory Watchlist (ARW) tracks developments in Legislation, inquiries, consultations
and other regulatory announcements relevant to superannuation.
