Super Guarantee Charge Statements
Do you know your obligations?
If you are in business with employees I am hoping you know about your obligations when it comes to paying super (if you don’t please call me ASAP!). However, do you know what your obligations are if you do not pay the compulsory super guarantee amount by the due date?
First things first, you need to make payment of the outstanding contributions ASAP!
Second, is that you need to notify the Australian Taxation Office (‘ATO’) of the late payment by completing a Super Guarantee Charge Statement (‘SCG’) and lodging it with the ATO. Your Bookkeeper or Accountant can assist you with this if you need a hand completing.
Once the ATO receives your SGC, they will issue you with a notice. This notice will include interest (from the due date of the super payment to the date the super payments were made) and administration fees. These extra charges are payable to the ATO.
The ATO takes a strong approach with regards to super payments and supports employers who engage with the ATO and attempt to get things right. The ATO website states
“We'll take firmer action for employers unwilling to meet super guarantee obligations. In some cases, we will:
undertake a super guarantee audit of an employer
raise SGC assessments with additional penalties for not lodging the statement by the due date.
We may also issue a:
SGC liability estimate
garnishee notice
director penalty notice
direction to pay SGC
education direction to complete the Super guarantee employer obligations course.
We take this approach with employers who:
repeatedly do not pay the correct amount of super guarantee
make it difficult for us to determine an SGC liability
repeatedly fail to keep appointments
repeatedly fail to supply information without an acceptable reason
deliberately supply information that is irrelevant, inadequate or misleading
engage in any behaviour to delay the supply of information.”
More info on this topic can be found at - https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Super-for-employers/ and as always, if you need help please reach out to us.