A key Parliamentary Committee has accepted Australian Taxation Office (ATO) urgings against making the closing of a loophole which allows unscrupulous employers to count additional employee superannuation contributions against their superannuation guarantee (SG) obligations retrospective.
The committee has decided to wave through making the legislation effective from 1 July, next year, because of the ATO’s argument that payroll providers would need time to update their software.
This was despite the Senate Economics Legislation Committee receiving a number of submissions arguing that the loophole should have been closed much earlier and that retrospectivity was justified.
Among those was a submission from the Institute of Public Accountants which said there appeared to be no obvious reason why the measure could not be imposed inside the current financial year.
It said that the legislation closing the loophole was effectively ending legalised theft.
However, the ATO argued that while it recognised the loophole was allowing some employers from doing the wrong thing, feedback from payroll providers needed time to update their software.
“So obviously making it retrospective doesn’t give them time at all,” the ATO said.
The research house has offered a silver lining after super fund returns saw the end of a five-month streak last month.
A survey of almost 6,000 fund members has identified weakening retirement confidence, particularly among those under 55 years of age, signalling an opportunity for super funds to better engage with members on their retirement journey.
The funds have confirmed the signing of a successor fund transfer deed, moving closer to creating a new $29 billion entity.
A number of measures, including super on Paid Parental Leave, funding to recover unpaid super, and frameworks to encourage investment in the energy transition, have been welcomed by the superannuation industry.
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