Tax & superannuation
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) gives advice and information about tax requirements and superannuation (super). This includes the compulsory superannuation guarantee.
On this page:
- Tax
- Superannuation guarantee
- Extra terms about superannuation
- When superannuation hasn't been paid
- Tools and resources
- Related information
Our role (the Fair Work Ombudsman) is to give employers and employees information and advice on workplace rights and obligations. We can provide information on extra terms about superannuation in awards.
Find out how you can access advice and support on tax and superannuation issues.
Tax
The ATO gives information and advice to employers and employees on tax.
If you want to understand your tax obligations as an employer or employee, find information on the ATO website:
- Employers: ATO – Tax and super when engaging an employee
- Employees: ATO – Working as an employee
You can also contact the ATO:
- online at ATO – Contact us, or
- over the phone on 13 28 61.
If you’re an employer, we have templates to help you record tax or superannuation on employee records or pay slips. Access them at Pay slips and Record-keeping.
For more information on state and territory payroll tax, visit business.gov.au – Payroll tax.
Superannuation guarantee
Under the superannuation guarantee, employers have to pay superannuation contributions of 10.5% of an employee's ordinary time earnings when an employee is:
- over 18 years, or
- under 18 years and works over 30 hours a week.
If eligible, the super guarantee applies to all types of employees including:
- full-time employees
- part-time employees
- casual employees.
Temporary residents are also eligible for super.
Super has to be paid at least every 3 months and into the employee's nominated account.
The ATO can give advice and assistance on superannuation issues, including on the super guarantee. Find out more at:
You can also contact the ATO:
- online at ATO – Contact us, or
- over the phone on 13 10 20.
Extra terms about superannuation
Some awards, enterprise agreements and other registered agreements have extra terms about superannuation.
Find more information about superannuation in your award by selecting from the list below.
When superannuation hasn’t been paid
Employees who think superannuation hasn't been paid can make a complaint to the ATO.
Before doing this, you should:
- know the award or registered agreement covering your employment
- check if your award or agreement has extra terms about super (use the filter above or see our full list of awards)
- check a pay slip to see if it has information about your super payments
- contact your super fund to find out whether a payment has been made (you can search for your fund at Australian Government – Super Fund Lookup)
- talk to the employer if you have any concerns (find out how to have a difficult conversation in the workplace).
If there are extra superannuation terms on top of the super guarantee in your award or agreement, you can contact us for further assistance.
The ATO has information about what an employer must do if they haven't met their superannuation obligations. Go to ATO – Unpaid super from your employer.
Annual performance test – closed MySuper products
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) conducts an annual performance test for MySuper products. When a MySuper product fails the annual performance test for 2 consecutive years, it cannot accept new members until it passes a future performance test.
To learn more about which MySuper products are currently unable to accept new members go to FWC – Superannuation.
Tools and resources
- Record-keeping
- Find my award
- Super - ATO website
- Pay slip template
- Find an enterprise agreement – Fair Work Commission
