The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has released new data, revealing $1.1 billion in unpaid super has been returned to nearly a million individual’s super funds in 2024–25.
Deputy Commissioner Ben Kelly said the latest figures show the ATO’s compliance efforts to protect employee’s super entitlements are continuing to pay dividends.
‘We issued over 200,000 proactive reminders and prompts, helping more employers stay on track, as well as taking stronger action against those employers who failed to comply.'
The ATO raised almost $800 million in Superannuation Guarantee Charge (SGC) liabilities, through:
- 120,000 reminders to employers
- More than 70,000 prompts to employers
- approximately 15,000 audit cases.
While most employers are doing the right thing and meet their Superannuation Guarantee (SG) obligations without ATO intervention, Mr Kelly said the more than $200 million raised in penalties should act as a warning to employers that paying correct super entitlements on time is not optional, and the ATO will take action to protect employees.
‘The ATO works with employers to support their compliance with tax and super obligations, and takes non-compliance with super guarantee obligations seriously.’
In the past year, the ATO took more than 20,000 firmer actions against employers who failed to pay the SGC owing, this included issuing director penalty notices and garnishees and taking legal action where necessary. There are strong consequences for employers that deliberately don’t comply with their SG obligations.
‘The ATO is committed to ensuring Australia’s workers receive their entitlements. Employers are required to pay superannuation for their eligible workers in full, on time and to the right fund,’ said Mr Kelly.
There are now better ways to detect and deal with non-compliance due to improved access to near real time Single Touch Payroll and superannuation fund data.
‘The introduction of Payday Super will allow the ATO to detect unpaid super earlier and take action to help a business get back on track and stay on track. For those businesses who don’t want to pay, the ATO will be able to take action faster to protect their employees’ super entitlements.’
The ATO has resources to help employers check they’re compliant with their super obligations, and advice on how to set up, calculate, and pay super at ato.gov.au/superforemployers.
You can view a snapshot of our compliance results at ato.gov.au/sgsnapshot.
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