ATO targets SMEs in 22 industries for SuperStream help

The Australian Tax Office will offer more support to SMEs in 22 industries to help them understand and use the streamlined superannuation payment process SuperStream.

The 22 industries being targeted include trades, hospitality, agriculture and construction, where the ATO is hoping to reach out to businesses that have yet to switch to SuperStream.

SuperStream requires employers to use electronic methods when making employee super contributions.

The tax office’s latest program aims to provide small businesses with a range of options to prepare for SuperStream and comes after the tax office acknowledged “teething issues” in the implementation of SuperStream last month.

More than 350,000 businesses nationwide have already made the switch to SuperStream, including around 250,000 small employers.

Philip Hind, the ATO’s data standards and e-Commerce national program manager told SmartCompany this morning the extra help is about providing practical support to those small businesses that still need to make the transition.

He says the tax office identified certain industries that might benefit from additional help after looking at a cross section of industries.

“We looked for significant sized clusters of small business where there was a lack of connectivity with the sorts of business partners or agents which would typically help companies with their super,” he says.

“Looking ahead we always anticipated as we got further into the implementation process that there would be types of small business which would require more effort to connect them up with SuperStream.”

Hind says the program, which will include informative emails and webinars, is part of an education campaign to encourage such small business to then talk to their accountant.

He says a lot of small businesses might have a bookkeeper they may use annually but might not have regular interaction with an accountant.

“It’s about giving them good advice and connecting them with solutions,” he says.

Hind says the fact a quarter of a million small businesses are already on board with SuperStream is an “outstanding achievement”.

“From our perspective SuperStream has really started to take off and achieve good results,” he says.

He says most of the “teething issues” experienced were “first time through cases”.

“Nothing we consider to be of great significance,” he says.

“We always knew there would be teething issues. An implementation like this, of getting 750,000 businesses into the e-commerce world, there’s going to be issues.”

Here’s the full list of the 22 industries being targeted by the ATO:

1. Pharmacy & cosmetics
2. GPs, dental & specialist
3. Cafes, restaurants, catering & take-away
4. Fruit, veg & floristry
5. Farming
6. Hairdressing & beauty services
7. Trades
8. Automotive & repair
9. Engineering & technical services
10. Bus & taxi
11. Road freight
12. Consulting (Management & IT)
13. Banking & finance, insurance & super
14. Accommodation, pubs & clubs
15. Food & grocery
16. Manufacturing – general
17. Building & employment services
18. Metals & engineering
19. Other specialist & boutique
20. Accounting & legal
21. Hospitals, clinics, aged care, accommodation & allied
22. Education & training