Reminder: Superannuation Changes for New Employees

From the 1st of November 2021, you will be required to complete an additional step if you have new employees who start that have not chosen a super fund.

You may now need to request their ‘stapled super fund’ details from the ATO. A stapled super fund is an existing super account of an employee that follows them as they change jobs.

What is a Stapled Superfund?

A stapled super fund is an existing super account which is linked, or ‘stapled’, to an individual employee so that it follows them as they change jobs.

How do I obtain an employee’s stapled super fund details?

If the eligible employee has not chosen a superannuation fund, you will need to contact the ATO to request this information. This can be done by logging into the ATO Online Services and accessing the ‘Employee Super Accounts’ section. Your Tax Agent can also do this for you.

You’ll be able to request this information after a Tax File Number Declaration or a Single Touch Payroll (STP) pay event linking the employee to you has been submitted to the ATO.

There is also the ability to make a bulk request for over 100 employees at once. More details on how to access this information is available from the ATO here.

What if the ATO doesn’t have a stapled super fund for the employee?

If the employee has not made a choice and does not have a stapled super fund recorded with the ATO, you will be able to make the super payments to your default fund.

What happens if I don’t follow the super choice rules?

If you do not give eligible employees a choice of super fund you could receive a ‘choice liability’ penalty. The choice liability penalty increases the SGC.

A choice liability penalty may be applied by the ATO if you, as the employer:

• charge your employee a fee for implementing their choice of fund;

• do not provide a Superannuation Standard Choice Form within the required timeframe to your eligible employees; or

• you paid the employee’s super to a complying superannuation fund that they did not nominate and/or is not their stapled super fund.

If you need assistance regarding this new change, contact Solution In via 0405 012 345 or email at info@solutionin.com.au

Information from National Retail Association Australia