When you employ staff, you must ensure that their mandatory superannuation contributions are paid by the due date to avoid paying the Super Guarantee Charge (SGC).
At a minimum, contributions must be paid to superannuation funds on a quarterly basis, however, you can make more regular payments should you choose to do so.
When should I make my Superannuation payments?
To be on time, the payments must be received by the superannuation funds on or before the following dates:
| Quarter | Period | Payment Due Date |
| 1 | 1 July – 30 September | 28 October |
| 2 | 1 October – 31 December | 28 January |
| 3 | 1 January – 31 March | 28 April |
| 4 | 1 April – 30 June | 28 July |
If you use a Superannuation Clearing House to process the contributions for you, you must ensure that you upload the payment and contribution details early to ensure the clearing house has the appropriate time to complete the payment by the due date.
It is important to note that if you wait until the due date to lodge your contributions with your clearing house then your payments are unlikely to reach the superannuation funds on time and you will be deemed to have paid your superannuation obligations late.
What is the Super Guarantee Charge?
If you do lodge and/or pay your employee superannuation obligations late, it is not as simple as making the payment and leaving it at that. You are required to lodge a Super Guarantee Charge (SGC) statement with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and pay an SGC.
The SGC you will be required to pay will be in addition to the superannuation obligation you have to your employees and it is not tax deductible. As such, it is more cost effective and beneficial for you to ensure you pay your superannuation obligations on time.
Some superfunds, awards, and contracts may require superannuation to be paid more regularly than quarterly, so it is important to make sure you are aware of these timelines.
Please note that the superannuation contribution rate will increase to 11% from 1 July, 2023. You will need to check that your payroll software has been updated to calculate the superannuation for your employees at this rate for the first pay run after 1 July.
If you have any questions regarding your superannuation obligations or employee payroll matters in general, please contact us to speak with one of our payroll specialists on (03) 5221 6399 or at info@davidsons.com.au.
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This article was written by Davidsons Bookkeeper Leanne Hamer.
Disclaimer: This information is of a general nature and should not be viewed as representing financial advice. Users of this information are encouraged to seek further advice if they are unclear as to the meaning of anything contained in this article. Davidsons accepts no responsibility for any loss suffered as a result of any party using or relying on this article.