The government has taken to Parliament the Treasury Laws Amendment (Recovering Unpaid Superannuation) - picking up from the previously lapsed bill that sought to introduce the Superannuation Guarantee (SG) amnesty. This proposed amnesty is designed to encourage employers to self-correct historical non-compliance for the period from 1/7/1992 to the quarter ending 31/3/2018.

While it allows employers to claim tax deductions for payments of SG charge or contributions made during the amnesty period to offset SG charge, as well as remove the administrative component and the Part 7 penalty that may otherwise have applied, there are some issues that need to be considered - timing of the payment will be important.

The proposed window of opportunity should the bill pass without amendments is six months.

With no election looming, and STP about to come into full effect (30/9/2019 is the STP deadline for everyone), there is hope that this amnesty will be enacted now.