The ATO says that it regularly identifies industries that it has found to be more at risk of dropping the ball on superannuation guarantee (SG) obligations.
This can take the form of not paying the compulsory 9.5% on a regular basis in more serious cases, but also covers other obligations regarding SG, such as offering choice of fund, providing tax file numbers or keeping adequate records.
This year, it says the industries it has identified as being at risk of not meeting SG obligations for eligible employees includes:
- bakery
- supermarket
- car retailing
- computer system design.
Tax professionals with clients in these industries are to be notified by the ATO of planned audits (and many tax practitioners may have already received notice). Starting in July this year, the ATO says it will be focusing on the meeting of SG obligations, especially from businesses operating in the above industries.
In the meantime, it is advising tax practitioners to remind their clients to:
- pay the correct super contributions for their employees and eligible contractors
- comply with SuperStream
- offer employees a choice of super fund
- provide employee TFNs to their super funds within 14 days of receiving a Tax file number declaration form
- meet the quarterly due dates for super payments, and
- keep up-to-date records of all super payments.
Source: Taxpayers Australia