When is a Due Date Not the Due Date?

When it comes to employee super; it’s not what you think.

Like us, you probably thought that paying your employee superannuation contributions by BPay on the 28th of the month following the financial quarter-end was meeting both the word and the spirit of the superannuation system.

Well, it turns out that we are all wrong, unless you are using the ATO clearing house. The ATO have deemed that no payment is made until the funds are received by the super fund. BPay can take up to three days to process and potentially the clearing house could take longer again.

As a businessperson, I find it a little troublesome that I can be punished as the result of the failure of a third party. But apparently our government sees it differently.

The penalties and impositions for making a late payment are substantial and without discussing them in detail are to be avoided at all costs.

In the interests of being cautious, we are now advocating paying quarterly super no later than the 21st.