ATO flags changes for employee super options
The Australian Taxation Office has flagged important changes around super flexibility that have come into effect this year.
New workplace determinations and enterprise agreements made on or after 1 January 2021 must now offer employees the right to choose the super fund to pay their compulsory super contributions.
Passing both the House of Representatives and the Senate in August last year, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Your Superannuation, Your Choice) Bill 2019 aims to ensure 800,000 Australians covered by enterprise agreements can make choices about where their retirement savings are invested.
This represents around 40 per cent of all employees covered by current enterprise agreements.
The ATO stated that once a new determination or agreement is in place, organisations must now offer choice of super fund to existing employees who request to choose their super fund and all new employees.
“All employees can nominate their chosen fund by completing the standard choice form through ATO online services linked to their myGov account,” the ATO said.
“Alternatively, you can give your employees a Superannuation (super) standard choice form to complete. You must then pay employees’ compulsory super to their nominated fund.
“If an employee doesn’t nominate a fund, you can continue to pay their super to the same fund you previously contributed to, or into your default fund.”
Tony Zhang
Tony Zhang is a journalist at Accountants Daily, which is the leading source of news, strategy and educational content for professionals working in the accounting sector.
Since joining the Momentum Media team in 2020, Tony has written for a range of its publications including Lawyers Weekly, Adviser Innovation, ifa and SMSF Adviser. He has been full-time on Accountants Daily since September 2021.
