Understanding the business impact of changes to superannuation

Here’s a snapshot of the key changes. 

1. A single super account to follow people when they move from job to job (known as 'stapling')

‘Stapling’ is where your new employees will automatically keep their existing super fund (if they have one) when they start their employment with you, unless they choose a fund themselves.

There are tie-breaker rules to determine which fund will be ‘stapled’ to an employee where they have multiple funds.

You will need to check with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) if your employee has a stapled fund by logging onto ATO online services and entering the employee’s details.

You can read more about ‘stapling’ at our ‘A focus on stapling’ page. 

2. Super Guarantee (SG) contributions have increased from 9.5% to 10% 

Compulsory employer SG payments increased from 10% to 10.5% on 1 July 2022 and is scheduled to continue to increase by 0.5% each year, until it reaches 12% in 2025.¹

How this impacts your SG obligations

You’ll need to adjust your payroll systems to pay the increased amount to your eligible employees.

If you don’t pay the correct rate of SG into your employees’ super accounts by the quarterly due date, you may have to pay the Superannuation Guarantee Charge (SGC). This ATO penalty for late or inaccurate payment includes all the SG amounts owing to an employee, plus interest and an administration fee. You will also need to report and rectify any missed payments by lodging an SG Statement with the ATO. For more information about your SG obligations and quarterly due dates, visit the ATO website.

3. Contribution caps

The contribution caps that apply from 1 July 2022 are:

Concessional contributions

An individual may have a greater concessional contribution cap if they have a total super balance of less than $500,000 at the end of the previous financial year by carrying forward their unused concessional cap amounts accrued from 1 July 2018 for up to 5 financial years.   

Non-concessional contributions

An individual aged 74 and under may be eligible to bring forward up to three times the annual non-concessional contribution cap provided their total super balance is less than the general transfer balance cap and they haven’t triggered their bring-forward period in either the 2020/21 or 2021/22 financial years.

The transfer balance cap for 2022/23 is currently $1.7 million. This means an individual can’t make any non-concessional contributions if their total superannuation balance is $1.7 million or more at 30 June 2022. 

Please note that the caps and transfer balance cap may change from time to time. For up to date information please refer to ato.gov.au. 

How to remain within contribution caps 

Employees are responsible for ensuring they don’t breach their overall contribution caps each year.

However, as an employer, the Federal Government also sets a maximum limit on an employee’s income on which you need to pay SG contributions – the maximum superannuation contribution base. The limit is indexed to AWOTE and changes every financial year. For 2022/23, the limit is $60,220 per quarter, so you only need to pay SG contributions on any amount an employee earns up to $60,220 per quarter for the 2022/23 financial year.

4. New electronic reporting payroll obligations

The Government introduced Single Touch Payroll (STP) in 2018 to reduce employers' reporting burdens. Using STP-enabled accounting or payroll software, like Xero or MYOB, employers can report all employee payroll information (salaries, PAYG withholding tax and super) directly to the ATO each time they are paid. 

Employers with more than 20 employees have been using STP since 1 July 2018, but from 1 July 2021, all employers have to report payroll obligations electronically (unless they have an exemption). 

In a broader enhancement to STP, Phase 2 was rolled out on 1 January 2022 to enable consolidated reporting and ease the administrative burden for employers providing employee information to multiple government agencies.

How this impacts your payroll software

We recommend you speak to your existing software provider and/or check the ATO website for more information.

References

¹ Source: https://www.ato.gov.au/rates/key-superannuation-rates-and-thresholds/?anchor=Superguaranteepercentage