The ATO will not grant any extensions for late superannuation payments, under any circumstances.  This includes superannuation contributions for closely-held and arms-length employees.

If you don’t pay the contributions on time (even if it’s beyond your control) you will be required to lodge a Superannuation Guarantee Charge (SGC) statement to report any unpaid contributions or payments made after the deadline.

The ATO will also apply the following penalties (called the super guarantee charge) on late payments:

• you will have to pay super on all salary and wages (not just ordinary times earnings);
• you will incur a late/admin fee of $20 per employee per quarter;
• you will be charged nominal interested (calculated at 10% pa calculated from the 1st day of the relevant quarter)
• and, the super guarantee charge will not be tax deductible – this includes the late contributions, the admin penalty and nominal interest charge;

You should also keep in mind that the nominal interest calculated on late super payments keeps accruing up until you lodge the SGC statement – even if you have already made the late payment to the fund.  If the ATO audits your superannuation payments and finds that you have made late payments that weren’t reported via the SGC Statement, you will have to lodge the SGC statement and pay penalties right up until that SGC lodgement date, not the date of the payment.  This can add up to thousands of extra dollars on contributions that you have already paid.

So if there is one thing that you always, always pay on time, it should be your superannuation contributions.  Our strong recommendation is to put money aside regularly to cover the contributions, automate the payments through your accounting software and make sure you always lodge and pay on time.  Not only will it save you money, it will also save you a lot of time and stress.