Today, legislation was introduced in Federal Parliament that, if passed, will see employers having to pay superannuation at the same time as wages (“payday super”).
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) Chief Executive Andrew McKellar said, “The more frequent payments will add extra costs to running a business and tie up small business owners by spending more time on administration.”
Pressure on small businesses will also be intensified by changes to the Australian Tax Office’s (ATO) Small Business Superannuation Clearing House. “As of this month, the ATO’s clearing house is no longer open for use for new business registrations… [and] will be fully decommissioned from 1 July next year,” he said.
“This means small businesses will need to migrate to new payroll software for super payments that integrate with new payment platforms. These modules are still being developed by the accounting software providers, so small business have little time to integrate the new software into their systems.
Mr McKellar welcomed one refinement in the legislation: “Employers have seven business days to pay their employees’ super contributions, this was revised up from the initial proposal of seven calendar days.”
The SA Business Chamber supports ACCI’s position and urges that the transition must be practical for small business. On behalf of our members, we support recommendations for a phased rollout aligned to software readiness, clear ATO guidance (including regional outreach), a reasonable bedding-in period to avoid unintended penalties while systems are updated, and low-cost, simple options for micro and small employers.
ACCI’s recent Small Business Conditions Survey found more than 40% of small businesses were not aware of the potential changes. This further underscores the need for a strong education push across metro and regional SA.
How will this impact your business?
If you have any concerns regarding payday super, please share your views so we can feed it into ACCI’s national advocacy and press for workable solutions for SA businesses. Contact the SA Business Chamber Policy & Advocacy team: policy@sabusinesschamber.com.au.
