How to check if your super is being underpaid

It’s been reported that in the 2019-2020 financial year, 2.8 million Australians lost out on $4.3 billion due to unpaid super by employers. So how can you check whether or not you’re one of those people affected? 

Your first step could be to call your superannuation fund to check the balance or use their online portal to check the balance online. To help you get an idea of how much superannuation you’re supposed to have in your account, the ATO has an ‘estimate my super’ tool. Use this tool to see how much super your employer should have deposited into your account during a particular period. Check this amount against what has been deposited into your super account to see if there are any discrepancies. 

Employers must pay the current superannuation guarantee rate from your pre-tax income as a contribution to your superannuation account. You can also check your super account statement to confirm whether you have received all the payments in your account or not. Your account statement should show you all the recent transactions, which should include your employer’s deposits or payments. 

If you believe this problem may extend back many years, you can perform a thorough check by going through your superannuation statements from the past. Don’t forget that although most employers pay super with each pay cycle, some employers may make super payments at different times. Employers are only required to make a payment every quarter. This means they could deposit the super payments you’re due four times a year rather than ever pay. 

You can generally make a claim for unpaid super for five years after the time it was due. If you want to make a claim for unpaid super that is older than five years, the ATO may ask for some additional information. This will likely include your pay slips and super fund statements for periods you didn’t receive your super contributions. 

If you do find discrepancies, including missing contributions, or differing amounts than the mandated, your next step should be to talk to your employer about claiming your unpaid super. 

If your employer isn’t willing to help, you can get help from the ATO to recover any and all superannuation underpayment.

Superannuation is linked to your salary package, which means that the ATO can see where your super is and how much you have in your account. This allows the ATO to help you chase down any unpaid super, as missing or unpaid super is a crime, and can result in significant fines and possible imprisonment for company directors. 

You may want to try and resolve the issue with your employer directly first before moving on to getting assistance from the ATO, as it could be an administrative error. If your employer still refuses to make the required super payments, then seek help from the ATO.

The ATO can check in real-time if your employer has paid the right amount into your super account or not. If there is a shortfall, the ATO can then direct your employer to make up the payments along with any fines the employer may face due to underpayment. These additional charges, beyond the super amount, include interest and administration fees. These fees and charges are also not tax deductible for the employer, and they may still face further penalties of up to 200 per cent of the charge.

The ATO can help you find and reclaim your unpaid super from your employer, but it’s up to you to act in time and seek out help in the first place. It’s a good idea to review your super regularly and give it a super health check from time to time. You can do this to ensure you’re receiving all your super contributions and also check the performance of your fund.