The SMSF Association has welcomed the ATO decision to extend the 30 June deadline for small businesses to become SuperStream compliant, calling it a flexible approach in providing them a few more months to adapt.
The new deadline gives small businesses until 28 October to become SuperStream compliant.
“Extending this deadline is an acknowledgement that some small businesses do need extra time and assistance to implement the changes required to become SuperStream compliant, especially as the end of financial year is particularly busy,” SMSF Association chief executive Andrea Slattery said.
“Once again the ATO has demonstrated it is willing to work with all superannuation sector participants, including employers, to deliver the best outcome.
Benefiting both employers and employees, Slattery said the association was in full support of SuperStream.
“There are recognised time savings and lower administrative costs for employers and for employees, many of whom are trustees or members of self-managed super funds, they are getting their super contributions faster and with greater certainty,” she said.
In February, the ATO revealed over half of SMSFs receiving employer contributions were doing so via SuperStream.
ATO SuperStream national program manager Philip Hind told selfmanagedsuper the small business community had surpassed the 50 per cent compliance level, which was more than 300,000 small businesses.
“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,” Hind said at the time.