Check an employer's super payment against the payday rule
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- From the pay run on or after 1 July 2026, list the payday, the seventh business day after it, the qualifying earnings the employer has calculated, and the date the fund recorded the contribution. Do not calculate the charge and do not write a disclosure to the Tax Office.
- What the lawyer must review
- The lawyer decides whether the contribution was in time and what, if anything, is disclosed. The Tax Office states that from 1 July 2026 an employer pays super guarantee for each payday, not quarterly, and calculates it as 12 per cent of qualifying earnings. Qualifying earnings include ordinary time earnings, all commissions, salary-sacrifice contributions, and other amounts that were previously included in salary or wages for super guarantee. The contribution must be received by the fund within 7 business days after the employees are paid, with enough information to allocate it. The page says there are exceptions, including for new employees, and points to a deadlines page that was not opened, so those longer periods are not stated here. Before 1 July 2026 the contribution was due within 28 days after the end of the quarter, on 28 October, 28 January, 28 April and 28 July, at 12 per cent of ordinary time earnings. From 1 July 2026 the charge arises when the fund has not received the amount within 7 business days after payday, unless a longer period applies. The Tax Office assesses the charge. The employer does not lodge a super guarantee statement. The administrative uplift can be reduced where the employer lodges a voluntary disclosure and the Tax Office has not taken action. Penalties are 25 or 50 per cent of the unpaid charge, depending on prior penalties. A fund has 3 business days, not counting the day of receipt, to allocate or return the contribution. The Small Business Superannuation Clearing House closed for existing users on 30 June 2026. Choice of fund remains, and a stapled fund is requested if the employee does not choose. This check is the payday deadline. It is not a reconstruction of quarters before 1 July 2026.
- Written for / version
- US
Open a jurisdiction version of this task to see which instruments apply: US
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | From the pay run on or after 1 July 2026, list the payday, the seventh business day after it, the qualifying earnings the employer has calculated, and the date the fund recorded the contribution. Do not calculate the charge and do not write a disclosure to the Tax Office. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Count 7 business days from the payday, not from the end of the month, for a pay run on or after 1 July 2026.
- Do not apply the old 28-day quarter dates to a payday on or after 1 July 2026.
- Confirm any voluntary disclosure is written by the lawyer, and that a new-employee exception is not assumed. That deadlines page was not opened.
Sources
- Australian Taxation Office: About Payday Super · 2026-10-22
These are suggested working checks. Confirm the required checking with the responsible lawyer before work starts; the checking approach does not establish permission to use AI.