From 1 November 2021, when you have a new employee start with your business, who doesn’t provide their super fund details, you need to request their stapled super fund details from the ATO.
A stapled fund is an existing super fund that is linked or ‘stapled’ to an individual. It is designed to follow the individual as they change jobs to avoid them having multiple super fund accounts which will assist reduce their account fees.
When a new employee starts, you must request the details of their super fund in order for you to pay their contributions into. If they have not provided to you their super fund details, you should make contributions into:
- the employee’s stapled fund, or
- your employer nominated account (if the ATO advises you that they do not have a stapled super fund)
Once the employee tells you their choice of super fund, you have 2 months to start paying contributions into that fund.
Below are the steps to requesting stapled super fund details:
- Offer your employees a choice of super fund and if they do not choose a super fund, in most circumstances you need to request a stapled super fund.
- Check ATO online services and access manager permissions to ensure you have permission to request stapled super fund details.
- Establish an employment relationship through a Tax File number declaration submission (employee completes via MyGov or paper form submission) or via a Single Touch Payroll (STP) pay event.
- Request stapled super fund details in ATO online services.
The result of the request should be received on-screen within minutes. Once the request has been made, the ATO will notify the employee of the request and the fund details that have been provided.
If you would like to discuss this or any other superannuation matter further, please contact Daniel Shaw, DFK Benjamin King Money Superannuation Director on 03 9098 4299.
