SFWG minutes, September 2011

11.2 Scheduling

Co-contributions recovery notice process

Mary Murray advised that the ATO did not proceed as planned with a co-contribution recovery notice process in July 2011, as indicated at out last SFWG meeting in June 2011.

The ATO has decided to carry out further robust testing of a larger volume of individual accounts than has been tested previously given that we have not run the process for some time, and a number of system fixes have been implemented. Key points discussed:

• Approx 300 member accounts across approx 30 funds have been included in the process as notified by CRT Alert 028/2011 issued Tuesday 30 August.
• We are reviewing this process end to end to assure correct transactions and the generation of correct correspondence.
• Funds that receive a Recovery Notice can assist by reporting any progress with their processing of the Notice, from loading the Notice, processing of any payment variation advice (PVA), to the analysis on any resultant PVA outcome of lodgment.
• FuturePlus reported they were able to load their file without problems
• The ATO will provide further updates to funds on any future tests or the reintroduction of routine processing of recovery notices.

Release of ATO calendar - Feedback from funds

Member consensus is the format changes from last year's version have improved the useability and effectiveness of the calendar.

LMR Outbound campaigns

Mary Murray provided an update on the outcomes of the LMR Outbound campaigns for 2010/2011:

• Telephone campaigns - 307,000 account reviews across 177,000 individuals
• Correspondence campaigns - 481,000 letters issued to individuals
• Planning for 2011/2012 is underway and we are expecting similar targets as last year. Telephone campaign work is on-going while the outbound correspondence campaign is scheduled for the second quarter of 2012.

MCS peak lodgment strategy

CRT Alert 029/2011 issued Thursday 1 September 2011 invited a number of larger funds to lodge their MCS earlier with the objective of:

• reducing system loads during the ATO peak lodgment for income tax and superannuation purposes (MCS, USM and LMR); and to;
• smooth out the peaks of the co-contribution payment processing in November and December.

Feedback from funds in previous years indicates this strategy has been effective.

Key dates for MCS lodgements and monthly co-contribution payment process dates are

Month of CC payment	Key date for MCS lodgment - for member entitlement* to be paid in this monthly run	Co-contribution RARN and payments issued week commencing Monday:
October 2011	Friday 30 September	17 October
November 2011	Friday 28 October	14 November
December 2011	Friday 25 November	12 December
January 2012	Friday 23 December 2011	16 January 2012

The member entitlement can only be paid if the member meets the government co-contribution eligibility criteria including the lodgment of their income tax return for the year corresponding to the MCS lodged.

Sections within Agenda items

• 1. Opening
• 2. Review of action items from 1 June 2011 meeting
• 3. Review of Action items from 30 March 2011 Meeting
• 4. Group discussion -Interactive session to discuss fund's experience in their interactions with the ATO and prioritise any required action
• 5. Lost Member Register (LMR) re-report proposal
• 6. Feedback from members on Lost Member Register (LMR) - provision of updated addresses program
• 7. Stronger Super update
• 8. Feedback from members on Sec 299TA / Please resolve activities
• 9. Compliance Update
• 10. Product update
• 11. Other business
• 11.2 Scheduling
• 11.3 Other
• 12. Meeting close
• Summary of action items from this meeting