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Staff Reporter
Small businesses that don’t pay employees their superannuation entitlements will be the focus of both the Tax Office, and proposed new laws which will make directors liable for unpaid payments, a report has claimed.
A report in The Sydney Morning Herald said accountants are warning small-to-medium businesses not to shortchange their employees on superannuation even if market conditions are tough.
The report said the warning was based on the ''enormous'' penalties that apply – which includes the inability to claim superannuation payments as a tax deduction when they’re not paid within 28 days of the end of a quarter - and proposed new laws which will see directors held personally liable for a company’s unpaid super.
The Sydney Morning Herald said the Tax Office believes it will receive 12,500 complaints this year about ''micro-employers'' - businesses turning over less than $2 million a year - not paying employees' superannuation.
The Tax Office is expected to pay close attention to small-to-medium enterprises, to ensure they are meeting their superannuation and tax obligations.
“'The ATO will approach this with the view that this is not the employer's money, it is the employee's money,'' Paul Banister, tax partner at Grant Thornton, told The Sydney Morning Herald.
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