Salon owners that registered for the federal government’s superannuation guarantee amnesty have been warned there are only weeks left to either pay outstanding amounts of super or enter payment plans with the tax office.
Announced by the government in 2018, the amnesty allowed employers that had been short-paying employees their super to admit to the wrongdoing without penalty, so long as they paid up.
It now emerges that salon owners that have registered for the amnesty but do not begin paying back the amounts owed in coming weeks will face disqualification from the scheme, and significant penalties of up to 200% as a result.
The amnesty period went back to 1992 when compulsory superannuation was first introduced, and required businesses to pay a 10% interest charge for each year their super payments were in arrears.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has begun phoning and writing to business owners – including salon owners – to let them know they must either pay the full amount owed or enter into a payment plan.
Business owners must do so within 21 days of being contacted by the ATO, otherwise, they will be disqualified from the amnesty and penalties may be applied.
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