The ATO has revealed over half of SMSFs receiving employer contributions are doing so via SuperStream, labelling it a pleasing result so far.
“At this stage, we’re very happy with where we’re at with implementation – it’s progressing very well in terms of the employer onboarding to SuperStream,” ATO national program manager for SuperStream Philip Hind told selfmanagedsuper.
“On the SMSF front, the most recent figures that we’ve been able to corroborate tell us that there are over 130,000 SMSFs that now receive SuperStream contributions, so we’re also past the 50 per cent compliance rate on the SMSF side.
“Our estimate is that there’s in the order of 250,000 SMSF trustees that need to receive contributions and of course not all SMSFs receive contributions, which is why that number is less than the 500,000-odd SMSF entities that are in the system.”
Hind said the result was pleasing.
“In the early days of implementing SuperStream, we really weren’t sure how the implementation was going to unfold on the SMSF side,” he said.
“But we’ve been very pleased with the way that it has started to shape up now and we think it’s just a matter of continuing to build momentum and providing education and support.”
Commenting on the initial uncertainty with the sector’s compliance to SuperStream, he revealed that it came down to the different levels of IT capability of SMSFs compared to public offer funds.
“I’m generalising here, but those that are serviced by the administrators and so on, the top end or high end of the SMSF market, there were no great problems getting the SuperStream components together and organising their clients around this,” he said.
“Where there was a much bigger issue were with the more DIY part of the segment that are obviously not used to the IT part of administering their fund.
“We understood that this was going to be a significant barrier and it’s not a question of choice, everyone has to do it, so for those receiving cheques or manually processing contributions or only getting a payment and not the information sent from their employer, this was a significant change.”
The small business community had also surpassed the 50 per cent compliance level, which was more than 300,000 small businesses, he said.
“We’re trying to make sure that businesses that haven’t yet implemented understand the urgency to get on with things, mainly small businesses, between now and 30 June, particularly if they’re on a quarterly reporting or payment cycle, they only really have two opportunities left to get SuperStream compliant,” he said.
“One of our key messages for small businesses is not to leave it to the last minute, in other words 30 June, because if you have any issues, you’re going to find yourself on the wrong side of the compliance date.
“Also, if everyone does that, there’ll be a lot of pressure in terms of the payroll providers and all the other players that need to provide assistance to clearing houses and others.”
