Russ_Sarah

hello all

stupid question here...

but the superannuation paid in addition to your salary in australia..

is it given in the payment each month? and is it down to the individual to invest it at his discretion..or does it get paid into a pension by the employer like in the uk?

ex_exile

It should be paid into a fund monthly, technically it only has to be paid quarterly before the govt chases up the company. You can decide on which fund you want it paid into, recent legislation changes have enabled personal superannuation funds where you can effectively manage your investments yourself but would you really want to?

EvannTel

9% MUST be paid by law. Wether this 9% is paid from a quoted salary package or is additional will reuqire you to check the small print.

e.g. an employer offers you $100K. It could be they will deduct 9% so you only "earn" $91K OR it could be you earn $100K and they put $11K into super.

Check when you get an offer

busterboy

Also the word 'package' indicates that this will be $x plus the 9% and any other misceallanous benefits that they roll in there.

EvannTel

Yes thats true. A "package" of $100K would be $91K salary and 9K super.

The Bloke

.... and that is only the minimum. Some employers, particularly in the public sector, have been known to pay up to 50% more.

ex_exile

Yep, thats what I would suspect

renth

True, my employer pays 17% and I chuck in 7% myself.

Bix

Just to follow up on this one.

The employer can pay quarterly and has until the end of the following month in which to pay it.

The government in this case is the ATO (Aus tax office) but they do not chase any company unless it is reported to them by individuals or perhaps a Fund acting for the individual.

Your pay slips will declare the Super has been deducted but this is not confirmation it has actually been paid.

Make sure your Super Fund keeps you advised of incoming payments.

According to the Aussies here non payment of Super is prevalent especially with smaller companies.

ex_exile

Yes and no. The ATO will follow up if a company fails to lodge its superannuation return within the statutory time limit, its like a company not filing a tax return or GST statement, the ATO is interested and will investigate. The ATO will not look at this down to the individual employee level though, as long as the company files the high level paperwork the ATO will only investigate in case of a complaint as stated.


I am chasing up a superannuation issues at the moment and funnily enough today (28/08/08) is the date that superannuation guarantee charge statements and payments are due.

beaumonts

I am soooooo confused - have just started work and have been asked which fund I would like my contributions paid into - got a book on hostplus is this a good one - arggggh what should I do? - does it matter?
help me plaeeeeese