Super Changes from 1 July 2013

INCREASE SUPER GUARANTEE RATE FROM 9.00% TO 9.25%

0.25% increase to the super guarantee rate. Super guarantee is the minimum amount of compulsory super you pay for your employees. The minimum rate of 9% will change from 30 June 2013. This is the first of several increases over the next seven years.

REMOVAL OF THE UPPER AGE LIMIT FOR SUPER GUARANTEE PAYMENTS

From 1 July 2013, the existing age limit for employee super guarantee eligibility will be removed. This means you will need to begin paying super for eligible employees who are 70 years old or over.

MYSUPER

Employers must have a nominated fund, or “default fund”, where they make super guarantee payments for employees who have not selected a preferred fund (by completing a choice of fund form).

From 1 January 2014, employers must make these contributions to a fund that offers a MySuper product: a new, simple and cost-effective super product that will replace existing default products. Super funds will be allowed to provide MySuper products from 1 July 2013, and they will provide you with information to help with the changeover from existing arrangements.

INVESTIGATE YOUR OPTIONS FOR MEETING THE NEW DATA AND E-COMMERCE STANDARD

The data and e-commerce standard will allow you to send super contributions and data on behalf of your employees to all funds in one standard electronic format, instead of sending information to separate funds in multiple formats. The benefits of a standard format include reduced processing times and costs.

Consider what your business needs to prepare for this change, as you may need to update software or systems.

The new data and e-commerce standard for sending contributions will be mandatory for employers with 20 or more employees from 1 July 2014.

The new data and e-commerce standard for sending contributions will be mandatory for employers with 19 or fewer employees from 1 July 2015.