Keep an eye on your bank account this week, as you may receive an unexpected deposit.
Whether you’re working or fully retired, you may have been underpaid super without even knowing it.
But the Australian Tax Office (ATO) and the federal government know it and have given Aussie businesses a chance to make good through the superannuation guarantee amnesty program.
For many who have been underpaid, the first they’ll know of it will be a deposit of up to $1500 added to their super fund.
Some may receive more, some less, but the amnesty is expected to pay around 393,000 workers past and present up to $588 million in unpaid super.
Money repaid as part of the amnesty includes about $440 million to super funds, including $132 million in late payment offsets and 10 per cent interest for each year the payment was outstanding, says a Small Caps report.
Another $33 million will be refunded through agreed payment plans.
And this, according to some, is a drop in the ocean.
It is estimated that workers are shortchanged more than $3 billion in unpaid super each year, leading to calls for harsher penalties for those employers.
Unpaid or underpaid amounts could date back all the way to 1992 when superannuation started.
The money will be put directly into workers’ super funds; retirees will receive a bank deposit.
The federal government is effectively granting a reprieve for businesses that have underpaid employees and giving them the opportunity to make good.
It seems the ‘guilt trip’ took a bit of time to work on some businesses, with around 55 per cent of those that confessed to not making compulsory payments applying in the last week of the amnesty.
An amazing 7000 businesses applied on the final day, ensuring that payments made before the cut-off were tax deductible.
Any companies that haven’t participated in the amnesty but are discovered to have underpaid superannuation face severe penalties.
The amnesty aimed to reunite “Australians with money that is rightfully theirs, making sure every dollar that is owed to workers goes back to them”, said Assistant Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and Financial Technology, Senator Jane Hume.
Have you received an unexpected windfall?
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Related articles:
https://www.yourlifechoices.com.au/finance/superannuation/super-changes-for-older-aussies
https://www.yourlifechoices.com.au/finance/superannuation/government-reveals-budget-super-plan
https://www.yourlifechoices.com.au/finance/superannuation/is-your-super-a-gender-issue
