STP is an output of a government initiative focused on streamlining Employers reporting obligations.

With the introduction of STP and Super Stream the ATO has up to date information from every employer and every Superannuation fund.

When an employer completes a pay run through STP compliant software, the ATO will have a record of the exact amount the employer should be sending to the employee’s superannuation fund for that quarter.

As the ATO also has access to the superannuation funds record of payments received through Super Stream, they also know when a fund receives contributions for every individual.

Through simple data matching the ATO will be able to see in real time whether the correct payments are being made.

Historically, the ATO did not know how much an employee was being paid periodically and could only see the annual payment figures when the PAYG Payment Summaries were lodged.

An employer must pay all their employees superannuation guarantee (SG) payments to a complying superannuation fund by the quarterly due dates, which are 28 days after the end of each quarter.

The amount payable is the superannuation guarantee amount on all pay runs for each employee for that quarter.

When you make your superannuation guarantee payments on time you can claim a tax deduction in the financial year you make them – click here for more information.

If an employer doesn’t pay its superannuation guarantee for an employee by the due date, they need to:

1. Pay the Super Guarantee Charge; and
2. Lodge a Superannuation Guarantee Charge Statement.

In this case both the late payment of SG and the SGC will not be deductible.

The Super Guarantee Charge (SGC) is made up of the following:

• SG shortfall amount
• Interest on those amounts (currently 10%)
• Administration fee per employee, per quarter (currently $20)

The payment of the SGC is transferred to the employees chosen superannuation fund. Click here for more information.