Superannuation paid on Phone Allowance

Barbara Allen-Guthrie

I am reading this below, and currently pay a few employees a fortnightly phone allowance with no Super (SG) paid on them, but wondering if this means I should be now paying 11% on top of the $23.03 phone allowance from 1/7/2023, does anyone know?

3. Super now payable on overtime and allowances

The SG Charge is not calculated based on Ordinary Time Earnings (OTE) as normal super guarantee is. SGC is calculated as 11% (current SG rate) of the Gross Earnings of the employee – in simple terms, this means super is now payable on any overtime earnings – which would have been exempt from super, had it been paid on time.

Acctd4

Hi @Barbara Allen-Guthrie

This relates to the Super Guarantee "Charge" - overdue/late unpaid super that then needs to be remitted via the ATO - not the standard 11% Super.

On that note though, an Allowance is considered OTE for Super if it is paid regardless of the employee's anticipated expenditure for it (eg employee has complete discretion on whether to spend the Allowance)

v

Allowances that are expected to be fully expensed by the employee are not considered OTE