Need for ATO clarity on clearing houses

9 August 2005
| By Mike |

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) has called on the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to inject more clarity into a draft determination dealing with employer superannuation payments made to superannuation funds via clearing houses.

ASFA’s call is contained in a submission to the ATO commenting on the draft determination and comes at a time when a number of funds and superannuation administrators have moved to implement clearing house arrangements for employers.

ASFA is seeking clarity in the wording of the draft determination with respect when an employer’s contribution on behalf of an employee is actually deemed to be made when a clearing house acts as an agent of a superannuation fund.

“In this circumstance, where the employee is a member of that superannuation fund, the payment made to the clearing house is considered a contribution to the fund for the purposes of superannuation guarantee,” the ASFA submission said.

However, it pointed to other wording within the draft determination which it said appeared to contradict the suggestion that a contribution was made when it was “received by the trustee of the superannuation fund”.

The ASFA submission has also called for clarity with respect to agency relationships between superannuation funds and clearing houses, pointing out that agency relationships do not normally exist in a superannuation context.

It said that “delegation” and “outsourcing” were more appropriate terms.

AUTHOR

Recommended for you

sub-bgsidebar subscription

Never miss the latest developments in Super Review! Anytime, Anywhere!

Grant Banner

From my perspective, 40- 50% of people are likely going to be deeply unhappy about how long they actually live. ...

1 year 6 months ago
Kevin Gorman

Super director remuneration ...

1 year 6 months ago
Anthony Asher

No doubt true, but most of it is still because over 45’s have been upgrading their houses with 30 year mortgages. Money ...

1 year 6 months ago

Vanguard Super has reported strong returns across most of its investment options, attributed to a “low-cost, index-based approach”. ...

1 day ago

The fund has achieved double-digit returns amid market volatility, reinforcing the value of long-term investment strategies for its members....

1 day ago

Australian super funds notched a third consecutive year of strong returns, with the median balanced option delivering an estimated 10.1 per cent over the 2024-25 financia...

1 day 1 hour ago

TOP PERFORMING FUNDS

ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
DomaCom DFS Mortgage
92.15 3 y p.a(%)
3