The Super Guarantee Amnesty Bill has been passed by both houses (only took 2 years, opposed by Labor and the Greens).

Employers will have a six months amnesty to pay SG contributions for super owing between 1 July 1992 and 24 May 2018.   The employer will be able to claim these as a tax deduction, with no administration charges or penalties.   Normally, if super is paid late it is not tax-deductible and charges and penalties can be significant.

Those who do not take advantage of the one-off amnesty, if (or when) found, will not be able to claim the super as a deduction and will pay full penalties, a minimum of 100% on top of the charge, plus admin charges.   The ATO does not have a discretion to remit penalties and charges; they are specified in the Act.

The amnesty window is retrospective to the original announced start date of 24 May 2018 and ends six months after the Bill receives Royal Assent (so perhaps assume start in April).   So, if you have paid already in good faith, you are covered by the Amnesty.

Don't wait for the Bill to receive Assent, six months is fairly short, so the forms need to be done and the payments made in that time, there will be no extensions.   If you are betting the ATO won't notice, don't count on it, the ATO matches up all Payment Summaries to what the employer has claimed, and what super has been paid to a Fund.   It's a big job that takes some time to gather the information, but can identify under payments easily.   Also, the ATO receives thousands of calls on non-payment of super, and follows up all of them.   Finally, the ATO doesn't have to do the work, it can request a reconciliation and proof of payment from the employer.

So, if you think this could apply to your business, talk to us soon.