On 24 May 2018, the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services announced the beginning of a 12-month Superannuation Guarantee Amnesty (the Amnesty) and introduced the associated legislation to parliament. The legislation is intended to apply retrospectively once enacted.
The Amnesty is a one-off opportunity for employers to self-correct past super guarantee(SG) non-compliance without penalty. The Amnesty will be available from 24 May 2018 to 23 May 2019.
Under the Amnesty, catch-up payments are tax deductible and you will not face penalties and charges that may otherwise apply to late payments.
To be eligible for the Amnesty you must disclose your SG shortfall amount including nominal interest to us within the 12-month Amnesty period.
If you are subject to an audit of your SG, you cannot take advantage of the Amnesty for those periods.
If you are not up-to-date on your SG obligations and do not come forward during this time, you may face harsher penalties in the future.
To take advantage of the Amnesty, you need to:
make full payment of the shortfall and nominal interest directly to their employees super fund (or funds) and complete and lodge the SG Amnesty Fund payment form, or
complete and lodge the SG Amnesty ATO payment form and enter into a payment plan with us.
Employers who choose not to self-correct any shortfalls of SG payments to their employees will face harsher penalties if this is identified after the Amnesty period.
For more information on tax planning and advice for business owners, please visit our Whole Wealth pages:
This article was published and provided by the Australian Tax Office.
https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Largebusiness/Indetail/Businessbulletins/Articles/Superannuation-Guarantee-Amnesty-announced/