Tax professionals

Key messages, articles and social media content for tax professionals.

Published 27 June 2026

Key changes

Remind your employer clients that they must pay super for each payday, whether this is weekly, fortnightly or monthly.
Super must be calculated as 12%* of qualifying earnings.
Employers must report both qualifying earnings and super liability through Single Touch Payroll (STP).
Employers will have multiple super payments due in July 2026. This includes super payments due for each payday as well as the final quarterly super payment due 28 July.
There are timing considerations your employer clients must understand. They have 7 business days after payday to ensure their super payments reach employees’ super funds (unless longer applies, such as for new employees).
They will need to be able to identify and fix errors quickly to meet the 7 business day timeframe and avoid the super guarantee charge (SGC).
Encourage your employer clients to understand error codes for rejected super payments, where to find them and what they need to do to fix them.
Different products across payroll providers have a range of ways they might show error codes. Employers can check their payroll provider’s help content or review documentation. If employers don’t use a payroll provider for super payments, they can contact the super fund directly to find out more about error codes.

*Note: Norfolk Island is 11% from 1 July 2026 and 12% from 1 July 2027.

Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (SBSCH)

The SBSCH closed permanently on 1 July 2026.
Employers can’t use the service to view or download records.
If your client didn’t find an alternative provider, they need to find one as soon as possible to continue making their super payments.

Paying super contributions late for quarter ending 30 June 2026

Super for the quarter ending 30 June 2026 is due by 28 July 2026. If an employer misses this deadline:
- they must lodge an SG statement by 28 August and pay the SGC to the ATO for the June quarter
- any super payments received on or after 29 July will be applied under the new Payday Super rules, even if they intended these payments to be made for any super they owe for the June quarter
- they are unable to claim late payment offset (LPO) to transfer these amounts to the quarterly super regime.

Note: The final quarter you LPO can be claimed for was the quarter ending 31 March 2026. Late payment offsets can only be claimed for the March quarter and earlier if the payment was made on or before 30 June 2026.

Paying super contributions late

Under Payday Super, super contributions are automatically applied to the oldest outstanding super owed (if any) in the order they are received by the fund. This means if they miss one or more payment, their next payment will be allocated towards the first missed amount, even if it was intended for a different period.
If super payments are not received by the right super fund by the due date and in the correct amount, the employer is liable to the super guarantee charge (SGC). Generally, payments must be received within 7 business days after payday. Some exceptions apply.
The SGC is:
- assessed by the ATO
- calculated based on qualifying earnings
- includes daily compounding interest
- includes an administrative uplift amount
- includes a choice loading
- tax deductible.
A tax deduction cannot be claimed for:
- any interest that accrues on the SGC
- the late payment penalty that was imposed for failing to pay the super guarantee charge.
Once the ATO has calculated the SGC, they will send the employer a notice of assessment. An employer no longer needs to lodge a super guarantee charge statement to the ATO.
Until an employer receives the notice of an assessment, they should pay late contributions to their employees’ super funds.
If they receive a notice of assessment, the employer must pay the amount to the ATO by the due date.
The assessment is made on the day the notice is provided to them.
Employers must pay the SGC on the day the assessment is made.

Our compliance approach for the first year (1 July 2026 – 30 June 2027)

The ATO will:

take a supportive approach, recognising employers who try to do the right thing and resolve issues quickly
acknowledge that it may take time for employers to adjust to the new requirements
focus compliance action on employers who are not trying to pay on time or not pay super at all
consider employers:
- low risk – if they’re trying to pay super guarantee contributions on time for all of their eligible employees (including eligible contractors) and they’re fixing any errors as soon as possible
- medium risk – if they’re not switching to paying super on a payday cycle or fixing errors quickly but still making payments based on the previous quarterly system
- high risk – if they have ongoing late payments, errors and underpayments which have not been resolved within 28 days of the end of a quarter.

For more information on our compliance approach for the first year of Payday Super, visit ato.gov.au/PDScompliance.

Newsletter or magazine content

Headline

Super is now paid for each payday

Your employer clients now pay super for each payday. They may need your expertise to help them understand their super obligations.

Article

Super is now paid for each payday

Your employer clients now pay their employee’s super for each payday – in line with their salary and wages. Depending on payroll timing, they could be paying super weekly, fortnightly or monthly.

Your clients may need your expertise to help them understand their super obligations or make the change if they haven’t already. Remember, employers who try to do the right thing by paying on payday and fixing issues quickly won’t be the focus of ATO compliance action in the first year.

You can visit ato.gov.au/PDScompliance to learn more.

Social media content

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Employers now pay super for each payday. Your employer clients will need your expertise to understand their super obligations.

Visit ato.gov.au/PaydaySuper for more info.