Instructions and form for employers and employees
Superannuation (super) standard choice form
WHEN TO USE THE FORM
Employers
Use this form to offer eligible employees their choice of super fund. You must fill in the details of your nominated super fund, also known as your default fund, before giving the form to employees.
Give this form to an employee when:
- you hire a new employee who is eligible to choose a super fund
- an existing eligible employee asks you for it
- you can no longer contribute to an employee’s nominated super fund or it is no longer a complying fund
- you change your employer‑nominated super fund and need to advise employees affected by this change.
Employees
Use this form to advise an employer of your choice of super fund.
You must provide the required information so your employer can make contributions to your nominated super fund.
ABOUT THE FORM
The Standard choice formhas three sections:
- section A, which the employee completes by providing details of their choice of super fund, together with supporting documents.
- section B, which the employer completes by providing details of their nominated super fund (before they give the form to an employee).
- section C, which the employer completes to document the choice process for an employee.
Employers must retain the returned form as their record of the choice process. Completed forms must be retained for five years.
Superannuation reform changes – SuperStream
SuperStream is a new standard for the way employers pay contributions and send information to super funds. This form collects information that employers will need when using SuperStream.NAT 13080‑08.2014
SECTION A: EMPLOYEE TO COMPLETE
If you choose your own super fund you will need to obtain current information from your fund to complete items 3 or 4.
Item 3
Nominating your APRA fund or RSA
Complete this item if you are nominating your own APRA fund (fund regulated by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority) or a retirement savings account (RSA).
You must include the unique superannuation identifier (USI) provided by your fund.
You must attach a letter from the fund trustee or RSA provider confirming that the fund or RSA:
- is a complying fund or RSA, and
- will accept payments from your employer.
This letter may contain other information to help your employer make super contributions using the SuperStream standard.
Item 4
Nominating your self-managed super fund (SMSF)
Complete this item if you are nominating a self‑managed super fund (SMSF).
You must include your SMSF’s ABN, bank account details and electronic service address (ESA) (so the fund can receive electronic messages and payments from your employer using SuperStream).
- phone us on 13 28 61between 8.00am and 6.00pm, Monday to Friday.
If you phone or visit us, we need to know we are talking to the correct person before discussing your tax affairs. We will ask you for details only you, or your authorised representative, would know.
FIND OUT MORE
ato.gov.au/SMSFSuperStream – for information about how SuperStream applies to SMSFsIf you are using an SMSF message service provider they will provide you with an electronic service address alias to include as the ESA on the form.
You must attach copies of the following documents to support your SMSF choice:
- a document confirming that the fund is regulated – this can be printed from superfundlookup.gov.au
- a letter from the trustee of the SMSF confirming that the fund will accept payments from your employer – if you are the trustee, or a director of the corporate trustee, you can confirm acceptance by placing an ‘X’ in the relevant box on the form.
Things you should know
- Your employer is not liable for the performance of the super fund you or they nominate
- You should not seek financial advice from your employer unless they are licensed to provide it
- Your employer is only required to accept one choice of fund from you in a 12-month period; however, they may accept more
- Your employer has two months after you return this form to them to action your request
- Any money you have in existing funds will remain there unless you arrange to transfer it (roll it over) to another fund – check the impact of any exit fees you will incur or benefits you may lose before leaving the fund (your employer cannot do this for you)
- If you quote your TFN to your employer for super purposes, they must provide it to the super fund
You may have lost super
- It is important to keep track of your super – if you’ve ever changed your name, address or job, you may have lost track of some of your super
- Having several super accounts could mean that fees and charges are reducing your overall super investment
- You can register for our online services and use SuperSeeker to check all your super accounts, find any lost or ATO‑held super and transfer your super into one account using a simple online form
FIND OUT MORE
- ato.gov.au/superseeker
- ato.gov.au/super– for information about super or choosing a super fund
- moneysmart.gov.au(on the Australian Securities & Investment Commission [ASIC] website) – search for ‘choose super fund’ for tips on how to choose a fund
2
SUPERANNUATION (SUPER) STANDARD CHOICE FORM
SECTIONS B & C: EMPLOYER TO COMPLETE
If an employee nominates their own super fund, they will provide information at section A that will assist you to prepare for, and make contributions to super funds using SuperStream.
FIND OUT MORE
ato.gov.au/simplifyingSuperStream– for more information on SuperStream.Section B
Complete section B before giving this form to your employee. The super fund you nominate must be authorised to offer a MySuper product. If you need to confirm your MySuper arrangements contact your default super fund.
Sign and date this section on the day you give the form to your employee.
Section C
Complete section C after your employee returns this form to you. Record the date you accept your employee’s choice of fund and the date that you act on the choice. Retain the form with your records. Do not send the form to the ATO or to super funds.
FIND OUT MORE
- ato.gov.au/employersuper– for more information on super, offering an employee a choice of fund or paying super contributions
- apra.gov.au/RSE– to find a super fund authorised to offer a MySuper product
Things you should know
- The quarterly* due dates for super contributions are:
- – 28 October
- – 28 January
- – 28 April
- – 28 July
- If you have not received an employee’s completed form and a super contribution is due, you must make the payment to your nominated fund by the due date
- In the two months after you receive an employee’s completed form, you can pay their super contributions to either the fund you have nominated or the fund they have nominated
- After the two‑month period, you must make contribution payments to the fund the employee has nominated
- You do not have to action an employee’s fund nomination if they have nominated a fund in the previous 12 months; however, you may choose to action their request
FIND OUT MORE
- phone 13 10 20 between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday, to speak to a tax officer
- phone our publications ordering service on 1300 720 092 for copies of our publications
- write to us at
Australian Tax Office
PO Box 3578
Albury NSW 2640
HELP
- If you do not speak English well and want to talk to a tax officer, phone the Translating and Interpreting Service on 13 14 50 for help with your call.
- If you have a hearing or speech impairment and have access to appropriate TTY or modem equipment, phone 13 36 77 . If you do not have access to TTY or modem equipment, phone the Speech to Speech Relay Service on 1300 555 727.
You can pay contributions more regularly than quarterly. For example, some employers pay fortnightly or monthly based on employee workplace agreements or arrangements with super funds.
SUPERANNUATION (SUPER) STANDARD CHOICE FORM
3
OUR COMMITMENT TO YOU
We are committed to providing you with accurate, consistent and clear information to help you understand your rights and entitlements and meet your obligations.
If you follow our information in this publication and it turns out to be incorrect, or it is misleading and you make a mistake as a result, we must still apply the law correctly. If that means you owe us money, we must ask you to pay it but we will not charge you a penalty. Also, if you acted reasonably and in good faith we will not charge you interest.
If you make an honest mistake in trying to follow our information in this publication and you owe us money as a result, we will not charge you a penalty. However, we will ask you to pay the money, and we may also charge you interest. If correcting the mistake means we owe you money, we will pay it to you. We will also pay you any interest you are entitled to.
If you feel that this publication does not fully cover your circumstances, or you are unsure how it applies to you, you can seek further assistance from us.
We regularly revise our publications to take account of any changes to the law, so make sure that you have the latest information. If you are unsure, you can check for more recent information on our website at ato.gov.auor contact us.
This publication was current at August 2014.
© AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE FOR THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA, 2014
You are free to copy, adapt, modify, transmit and distribute this material as you wish (but not in any way that suggests the ATO or the Commonwealth endorses you or any of your services or products).Published by
Australian Taxation Office
Canberra
August 2014
JS 31287
Superannuation Standard choice form
For use by employers when offering employees a choice of fund and by employees to advise their employer of their chosen fund.
PRIVACY STATEMENT
The ATO does not collect this information; we provide this form as a means for employees to identify and provide necessary information to their employer. An employer is authorised to collect an employee’s TFN under the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993. It is not an offence for an employee not to quote their TFN. However, quoting a TFN reduces the risk of administrative errors and if the employee does not quote their TFN their contributions may be taxed at a higher rate. An employee can get more details regarding their privacy rights by contacting their superannuation fund.