Preparing for a ‘whole rewrite’ of how the SG charge is calculated, imposed

“This is much more than just paying superannuation more frequently … This is about a whole rewrite of the way the superannuation guarantee charge is calculated, [and] how it's imposed,” Jacobson said. She emphasised that while many believe that the changes are a significant impost on small businesses due to cash flow challenges, the change will contain no legislated transitional rules, carveouts, and everyone will need to comply.

In its Practical Compliance Guideline PCG 2026/1 Payday Super, the ATO said that it: “recognises that employers who try to do the right thing from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 and resolve any issues quickly, should not be the focus of ATO compliance action”.

"The ATO’s main compliance focus will continue to be on those who do not pay at all or deliberately underpay their employees, and this is where Payday Super data will help us to prevent significant unpaid entitlements from accumulating, where there is clearly no intention to comply," said ATO deputy commissioner Emma Rosenzweig, speaking at the AFR Workforce Summit.

Jacobson said the government would not be directing its attention and resources to the companies in the “low-risk zone” of its guidelines.

“If you make every effort to pay it on time and it gets there a few days late, the ATO is not going to be imposing SG charge assessments for 2026/27,” she added.

In the lead up to the decommission of the SBSCH at 11:59pm on 30 June, Jacobson emphasised that small businesses who currently use the clearing house must log in, access, and download their reports.

“This is absolutely crucial because it will be a hard close and I can foresee there'll be some employers who wake up on the 1st of July and go to pay their super or go to get access to the system and are incredibly frustrated by the fact that access is denied and they'll say, ‘no one told us about this’,” Jacobson said.

Jacobson noted that following the closure of the clearing house, small businesses said that due to the lack of an alternative, small businesses will need to source a commercial solution, and will either have to use their own Payday Super software, manage their superannuation themselves or pay a tax or BAS agent to manage the process for them.