The Turnbull Government has introduced legislation to improve enforcement and collection of superannuation guarantee (SG) payments by employers to Parliament, giving the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, Kelly O’Dwyer, grounds for a thinly veiled attack on Labor’s economic ability.
The Treasury Laws Amendment (2018 Measures No.4) Bill 2018 would allow the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to increase penalties for employers who do not pay employees the legally required 9.5 per cent superannuation amount.
The strengthened enforcement provisions include allowing the ATO to toughen arrangements for director penalty notices. In cases where employers defy directions to pay the SG, the ATO would also be able to apply for court-ordered penalties, including a years’ imprisonment.
The proposed legislation would also /// b extending single touch payroll to cover all employees from 1 July, 2019. O’Dwyer said that this would “bring payroll reporting into the 21st century”.
It would also improve accountability of employees to pay the SG, as it would provide the ATO with current information about the amount of super that employers owe.
O’Dwyer said that “it was not acceptable for employers to cheat staff out of their superannuation entitlements”, and that the Bill would help stop this from occurring.
The ATO currently estimates that $2.85 billion worth of super goes unpaid each year, which O’Dwyer blamed on prior Labor administrations.
“After the inaction of the previous Labor Government, where Bill Shorten and Chris Bowen were responsible for superannuation, it has taken a Liberal Government to protect members’ money,” she said.
The proposed Bill would also enable the transition to retirement income stream of a super fund member to be paid at death to their eligible dependants without having to be commuted and a new income stream started, and eliminate double taxation of deferred annuities purchased by super funds and retirement savings accounts.
