Pay Day Super Contributions
Things to consider

Effective 1 July 2026

• Due date – will effectively be the same date as wages are paid, no longer 28 days after Quarter end
• Qualifying Earnings replaces Ordinary Time Earnings as the base amount the 12% super is applied to
• Super Guarantee Charge (SGC) for late payment will be calculated differently, but late payments will be tax deductible
• Penalties for late payment will change and are higher if you have past ATO SGC penalties 

Due date for contributions
From 1 July 2026 Super guarantee contributions (12% of Qualified Earnings) must be paid to an “employee’s” super fund on pay day and received by the super fund within 7 business days.
Business days exclude any Saturday, Sunday or any day that is a state wide Public Holiday in any day.

Practically, if you submit the Super contributions via Xero on the same day as Pays are made you will comply with this requirement.
Super funds will be required to process the funds received within 3 business days.
New employees are an exception, with 20 business days allowed for the contribution to be received.

Qualifying Earnings
Qualifying Earnings include;

• Ordinary time earnings (OTE)
• All commissions paid to an employee
• Salary sacrifice amounts that would qualify as qualifying earnings had they not been sacrificed to superannuation
• Earnings paid to workers who fall under the expanded definition of employee, including payments to independent contractors paid mainly for their labour

Super Guarantee Charge (SGC) and Penalties
See Late Super Contributions