Unpaid super: Australian workers ripped off by $17 billion, ATO reveals

IT’S the safety net that is supposed to ensure our financial security for years to come.

But it turns out that Australia’s compulsorary superannuation system has a great big hole in it — one worth $17 billion.

That’s how much super employers have dodged paying in the past eight years, according to new figures released by the ATO this week.

Now the Federal Government is cracking down on employers caught short-changing staff by failing to contribute the mandatory 9.5 per cent of employee earnings to a super fund of their choice.

The ATO analysis found that employees had likely missed out on $2.85 billion of their super guarantee payments during the 2014/15 financial year, because employers dodged their obligations, with small business owners among the worst offenders.

Revenue Minister Kelly O’Dwyer slammed the shirkers, saying employers who deliberately avoided paying their workers’ super entitlements were essentially “robbing” their staff of wages.

“This is illegal and won’t be tolerated,” Ms O’Dwyer said.

TAX OFFICE CRACKDOWN

The government is bankrolling an ATO superannuation task force to crack down on employer non-compliance.

It comes alongside legislation to close a legal loophole used by some “unscrupulous” employers to short-change employees who make salary-sacrifice contributions to their superannuation, Mr O’Dwyer said.

Employers may also be forced to make monthly contributions, making it easier for the tax office to detect non-compliance.

The ATO will be grated power to seek court-order penalties where employers are caught repeatedly failing in their super obligations.

The current annual gap between the amount of super employers are required to pay, and their actual contribution, is estimated to be 5.2 per cent of the $54.78 billion of superannuation guarantee obligations, the ATO analysis found.

“We encourage people to report instances of non-payment to us and we respond to every one of the approximately 20,000 reports of possible non-payment of SG from employees or former employees we receive each year,” ATO deputy commissioner James O’Halloran said.

$17 BILLION A ‘CONSERVATIVE’ FIGURE

Source: Unpaid super: Australian workers ripped off by $17 billion, ATO reveals