New Superannuation Reforms - Is your business ready?

Have you heard about the Australian Government’s new superannuation reforms? It’s time to take notice, as these changes will be affecting your business and its obligations –soon!

The first of the reforms to come into effect relates to the superannuation guarantee law, which sets out the super contributions you must pay to your eligible employees. From 1 July 2013, the minimum rate for contributions will rise from 9% to 9.25%. Over the next seven years, this will rise to 12%. To ensure you meet this new obligation, you need to update your payroll and accounting systems to apply the appropriate increase to the super guarantee rate.

From 1 July, superannuation funds will start to provide a new type of super account, called ‘MySuper’. ‘MySuper’ will replace existing default accounts offered by super funds, that is, the account chosen by you for an employee who does not choose their own super fund.

From 1 January 2014, if an employee has not completed a choice of fund form, you must pay their super contributions into a fund that offers a ‘MySuper’ account. It's a good idea to check with your current default fund to find out whether they will be offering a ‘MySuper’ account.

Also included in the set of reforms is a new data and e-commerce standard, aimed at making it easier for you to process super payments. The new standard is expected to reduce the time it takes to process super payments, lower transactions costs and provide you with a consistent, reliable, electronic method of making payments.

The new standard means you will be able to send super contributions to funds in one standard electronic format.

The date you need to have this new data and e-commerce standard implemented depends on your business size. If you have 20 or more employees you need to start using the new standard by 1 July 2014. If you have 19 or fewer employees you will need to start using the standard from 1 July 2015.

To find out more about these and other super reforms visit the Super Future  and Australian Taxation Office  websites.

Need help?

If you have 19 or fewer employees, you can use the Australian Government’s free online service, the Superannuation Clearing House, to complete your super payments and help meet your super obligations.
The service allows you to make one secure electronic transaction, with the Superannuation Clearing House then distributing this as superannuation contributions to your employees’ nominated superannuation funds.
Once set up, it only takes a few minutes to process payments, minimising the time and paperwork involved in paying contributions to numerous superannuation funds.

To find our more or to register for the service visit the Superannuation Clearing House website .