From 1 November 2021, if you are taking on new employees and they do not nominate a super fund, you will now be required to ask for their ‘stapled super fund’ details from the ATO.
A ‘stapled super fund’ is simply an existing super account linked, or ‘stapled’, to an individual employee so it follows them as they change jobs.
For the most part, the obligations are unchanged, and most employees will continue to be eligible to make a choice about their super fund and you, as the employer, still need to provide the choice. However, sometimes an employee might not make a choice. For example, they don’t return the form, or they might not know the details of their existing fund.
This situation could leave you at risk of not meeting your superannuation guarantee obligations and incurring penalties – THIS MEANS MORE TAX TO THE ATO!
It is important you take all steps to allow employees the choice of super fund, but if this fails and you are worried about complying you can use your default fund if there are no stapled fund details available for an employee.
As your accountant, we can lodge ATO requests for stapled funds on your behalf, including bulk requests where there are 100 or more new employees.
Get in touch – we’re happy to help!
Disclaimer: This information does not constitute financial or legal advice and is for general information purposes only.
