Are you an employee?
As an employee you could be entitled to receive compulsory superannuation (super) contributions from your employer. As of the 1st of July, 2021 the super guarantee contributions must be a minimum of 10% of your ordinary earnings, up to the ‘maximum contribution base’. Generally, if you are 18 years or age or older and paid more than $450 a month (before tax) you are entitled to received super. This includes all individuals who work fulltime, part time or casual.
The super rate is scheduled to progressively increase to 12% by July 2025. You can find the scheduled rate increases and dates on the ATO website.
If you however are under the age of 18, you need to be paid more than $450 a month and work more than 30 hours a week to be eligible to receive super payments from your employer.
Your employer is not required to make super contributions if you are:
paid to do work of a private or domestic nature for 30 hours or less each week
a non-Australian resident and you’re paid to do work outside Australia
an Australian resident paid by a non-resident employer for work done outside Australia
a senior foreign executive on a certain class of visa
temporarily working in Australia for an overseas employer and are covered by the super provisions of a bilateral social security agreement.
Are you a contractor?
As a contractor you could still be entitled to super payments from your employer. If you are paid wholly or principally for labour, you are considered an employee for superannuation guarantee purposes under the same rules as employees. This is still the case even when a contractor quotes an Australian Business Number (ABN).
A contract may be considered ‘wholly or principally for labour’ if:
you’re paid wholly or principally for your personal labour and skills
you perform the contract work personally
you’re paid for hours worked, rather than to achieve a result.
For super to apply, the contract must be directly between you and your employer. It cannot be through another person or through a company, trust or partnership.
Do you use the Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (SBSCH)?
If you intend to claim a tax deduction for super payments you make for employees in the 2021-22 income year, those payments must be accepted by the SBSCH on or before the 23 June 2022. This allows the correct processing time for all payments received before the end of the 2021/2022 financial year.
Still unsure if you are entitled to receive super payments?
If you are still unsure if you are entitled to receive super payments from your employer, please contact our office on (07) 4622 1818 or admin@romatax.com.au.