Payment Summaries and Reporting of Incorrect Super Amounts

The Tax Office says some employers have been incorrectly including compulsory superannuation amounts as reportable employer super contributions on their employees' payment summaries for the 2009-10 income year. Reportable employer super contributions should only include additional super contributions made by an employer, for example, super contributions made on behalf of an employee under a salary sacrifice arrangement. The payments being incorrectly included cover things such as super guarantee contributions and industrial agreement (award) super contributions.

TIP: Employees should review their payment summaries and ask for amended payment summaries from their employers if they incorrectly contain compulsory super amounts as reportable employer super contributions. This is important because incorrect amounts included may affect eligibility for certain tax concessions and Centrelink benefits, and may cause a liability for the Medicare levy surcharge.

TIP: If employers have issued payment summaries to their employees that incorrectly include compulsory super amounts, they can notify affected employees and issue them with amended payment summaries. If employers have also already lodged their payment summary annual reports with the Tax Office, they will need to lodge an amended annual report. 

Click here to read the full story in the explanatory memorandum.