The Federal Government has moved to make life easier for small business, taking the first step to reduce the compliance burden employers’ face when making superannuation contributions for their workers.
As part of this first step the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will take over the running of the Small Business Superannuation Clearing House.
The move is part of the Government’s commitment to cut $1 billion worth of red-tape out of the economy and will make life easier for small business as they already have dealings with the ATO.
The ATO is best placed to increase the take up rate of the clearing house as they have access to data on who is eligible for this free service.
The Small Business Superannuation Clearing House is a free online service that helps small businesses with 19 or fewer employees meet their superannuation guarantee obligations by allowing employers to pay superannuation contributions in one transaction to a single location to reduce red tape and compliance costs.
This is a positive first step in progressing the Government’s election commitment to provide a better way to pay superannuation for workers by remitting compulsory superannuation payments directly to the ATO, with the tax office distributing contributions to individual accounts.
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.
An app will also be launched by the ATO in a further effort to assist small business. Using mobile devices, small businesses will be able to:
- find out if their worker is an employee or contractor for tax and super purposes;
- search small business assist, the ATO’s online service that provides an easy pathway for small business to find information they need on a range of tax and super topics, with the option to book an after-hours call from an ATO customer service consultant;
- use the payment plan estimator to simulate a payment plan for an ATO debt. Users will also be provided with information on how to enter a payment plan once they have determined the arrangement that would suit their needs; and
- get news and updates as well as answers to frequently asked questions.