From 1 July 2026, you must pay super guarantee at the same time of paying wages. This means that you can no longer pay super once a quarter.
It is compulsory to ensure that the employee’s super funds will receive ‘super guarantee’ payments within 7 business days after paying wages.
‘Super Guarantee’ amount is 12% of ‘Qualifying Earnings’.
Qualifying Earnings include ordinary time earnings (i.e. working hours), commissions, salary sacrifice and other amounts (e.g. bonuses).
What happens if you pay super guarantee late?
If the employees’ super funds do not receive super guarantee amounts within 7 business days after payday. The ATO will issue a ‘Super Guarantee Charge’ and ‘Penalties’.
‘Super Guarantee Charge’ (SGC) includes:
- 12% of qualifying earnings
- interest that compounds daily at the general interest charge rate
- administrative uplift amount
Penalties
Penalties are up to 50% of the unpaid super guarantee charge.
How to stay compliant
Before 30 June 2026, access to payroll software to ‘report and pay’ through ‘Super Stream’.
‘SuperStream’ is a standard requiring all employers to provide payments and related data to super funds electronically (by using payroll software)
If you have not accessed your payroll software, we can help you to access to ‘report and pay’ today. Please contact to book a time with us.
