The Federal Government has released further details on its election proposal to streamline employer superannuation reporting and cut red tape by transferring the running of the Small Business Superannuation Clearing House from Medicare to the ATO. Under the proposal, small businesses would report superannuation payments to the agency that already collects their PAYG payments, and the ATO will distribute contributions to individual accounts.
The Government said the ATO is best placed to increase the take up rate of the clearing house as it has access to data on who is eligible for this free service. The Government said the “move will be followed by an extensive stakeholder consultation process so the Government can better understand superannuation compliance cost concerns and develop further options to reduce these costs”.
The Government said an app will also be launched by the ATO to further assist small businesses. Among other things, small businesses will be able to find out if their worker is an employee or contractor for tax and super purposes, and access a payment plan estimator to simulate a payment plan for an ATO debt.
Source: Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Small Business joint media release, 7 January 2014