Archived News - 2005
2005-08-25
Your Employee Obligations - Superannuation
Your key responsibility here is to provide a minimum level of compulsory superannuation support, e.g., the SG contribution for each employee, which is currently set at 9% of their wages or salary.
If you have super obligations under an industrial award, these count towards the minimum level of SG support, as do payments made under a salary sacrifice arrangement.
Who's covered by SG?
Most employees, whether full-time, part-time or casual, are covered by the SG legislation.
However, be aware that the term 'employee' has a wider meaning for these purposes and may include other types of workers including company directors, some artists, sportspeople and certain contractors.
You don't have to make SG contributions for an employee who is:
- paid less than $450 a calendar month;
- 70 years or older; or
- under 18 and works no more than 30 hrs per week.
Tax deduction if paid on time
SG contributions are tax deductible, provided they are paid on a quarterly basis to a complying superannuation fund or retirement savings account. Here's the payment schedule for the 2005-06 year:
| Period | Contributions due |
|---|---|
| 1 Jul 05 - 30 Sep 05 | 28 Oct 05 |
| 1 Oct 05 - 31 Dec 05 | 28 Jan 06 |
| 1 Jan 06 - 31 Mar 06 | 28 Apr 06 |
| 1 Apr 06 - 30 Jun 06 | 28 Jul 06 |
OUCH!
If you don't pay your SG contributions on time, you'll need to lodge a SG statement and pay the SG charge, which is not tax deductible!
Reporting to employees
From 1 January 2005, you no longer have to provide written SG contribution reports to your employees.
If you want to continue to report to your employees, you can do so. Otherwise, your employees will be able to find about their superannuation contributions when their super fund issues annual member contributions' statements.
Super Choice
Of course, don't forget that from 1 July 2005, many of your employees have the right to choose the superannuation fund into which your compulsory SG contributions are paid. This topic was covered in the May 2005 edition of this newsletter.
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