Tony Smith (Casey, Liberal Party, Deputy Chairman , Coalition Policy Development Committee) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the opposition I rise to contribute briefly on the Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2012 Measures No. 1) Bill 2012. I say at the outset that the opposition is not opposing this bill. As I indicated, I will just speak very briefly on the schedules to this bill. There are seven schedules in all. The first two relate to the goods and services tax. One relates to GST-free health supplies, the other to GST treatment of government appropriations. In each instance, in summary, they seek to restore the original intent following rulings by the full Federal Court. As I have said in previous debates on these tax law amendment bills, this is a regular piece of business for this parliament.

Schedules 3 and 4 are somewhat related. Schedule 3 is a pause in the indexation of superannuation concessional contribution caps. The opposition has rightly been critical of the government's approach almost from day 1 in this area. I will deal with schedule 3 first. We have well and truly had this debate with the government about their flawed approach to superannuation, but in this tax law amendment bill, as is the custom, we are not opposing the bill, because we recognise that all of the schedules have been factored into the government's approach and we have had those policy arguments.

Schedule 4 deals with a refund for excess concessional contributions. Similar to the last schedule, the shadow assistant Treasurer, Senator Cormann, has debated these aspects with the government over many months—in fact, since the last election.

Schedule 5 deals with the disclosure of superannuation information, schedule 6 with pay slip reporting and the final schedule with refunds. I will deal very briefly with some of those that I have not mentioned. With regard to the disclosure of superannuation information, everyone supports the intent of easier consolidation, and the coalition, naturally, supports moves to consolidate superannuation accounts, but we also think that there needs to be greater member awareness as part of this process as well. So we make that point, as we have made it so often throughout the debate.

Schedule 6, which deals with pay slip reporting, has been well foreshadowed. Schedule 7 of this bill amends the Taxation Administration Act 1953 to provide the Commissioner of Taxation with a legislative discretion to withhold entitlements to high-risk refunds pending refund integrity checks of a taxpayer’s claim. Again, the coalition supports moves to preserve the integrity of our tax system, including measures to prevent any systemic attempts to defraud the Commonwealth of GST revenue and, as has been pointed out, allowing the commissioner the discretion to hold back any suspicious claims pending verification checks is indeed a worthwhile initiative. Obviously the success of this measure depends on how that discretion is applied, and it goes without saying that if the discretion is applied far too broadly it of course has the potential for adverse impacts on small business and the like. But, as a schedule in this bill, the coalition supports this integrity measure. As I said at the outset on the bill as a whole, the coalition is not opposing it.

Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a pleasure to speak on this bill, because I think any opportunity to reform and make changes to taxation and superannuation in order to provide better outcomes for people is obviously something that we should always be attempting to do—and that is exactly what the Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment Bill 2012 (Measures No. 1) does. This bill particularly tidies up a range of areas where there have been some issues and concerns raised in what is always a complex area in tax and invariably a complex area in superannuation, and it does this through a number of schedules.

This bill seeks to maintain the existing GST treatment third-party procured GST-free health supplies. It is really to make sure that it is clear in law how that GST-free supply is provided to other healthcare providers or other services to make sure that, in the end, the recipient of those health supplies actually does receive them as GST-free. This will avoid increased compliance costs that otherwise would arise for taxpayers in multiparty arrangements across those types of goods. Still in schedule 1, the amendments also restore the intended operation of GST law following the department of transport decision ensuring that multiparty arrangements involving relevant health related health supplies of goods and services are also GST free. It clarifies that and makes sure that it is restored in its proper sense.

Schedule 2 clarifies the GST treatment of government appropriations following the 2009 full Federal Court decision in TT-Line and makes sure that there are no unintended consequences or that entities not face an increase in compliance in this area and do not have to change their budgetary processes and practices.

Schedule 3 allows a pause in the indexation of the superannuation concessional contributions cap for one year, where otherwise it would have been the case that there would have been an increase through indexation above the $25,000 cap to $30,000 in 2013-14. This clarifies that that suspension will mean that that does not actually take place until 2014-15. This will generate some budgetary savings while at the same time maintaining the cap as is intended for individuals and maintain that incentive for people if they wish to make extra contributions.

Schedule 4 provides eligible individuals the option to have excess concessional contributions taken out of their superannuation fund and assessed at their marginal tax rate rather than incurring a potentially higher effective tax rate for any excess contributions tax. This is a beneficial change and something that is supported. As I understand it from the opposition, while they might have some what you might expect are regular concerns about regular things, the bill and the amendments are supported across the chamber. Schedule 5, goes further in terms of a number of measures, particularly in relation to the secrecy provisions in the Taxation Administration Act. This is to make it easier for beneficiaries of superannuation funds to consolidate those funds and not have their lost superannuation interest and benefits just disappear because of a range of administrative processes. It is always good to see that. There are hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars that are either unclaimed, lost or otherwise not in their rightful places because of a range of reasons. Anything that we can do in this place to remove any of those barriers is a good thing.

Schedule 6 also delivers on an essential element of the government's Securing Super package that was announced during the 2010 election campaign. What it does is require employers to report to employees, on payslips, not only how much super they will be paying but when they plan to pay it. I think it is an important part of the ongoing struggle of making sure that funds for superannuation are used for exactly that and allocated accordingly—paid to employees who have worked for those funds. I think this is a very positive step and will work to the benefit of many thousands of workers.

In fact, in 2010-11 the ATO investigated nearly 18,000 employee complaints which raised Superannuation Guarantee entitlements for a great variety of reasons. That followed through to $517 million being identified, with $269 million actually being collected in Superannuation Guarantee charges and a further $139 million in penalties. You can see that this is quite significant and something that we ought to continue to pursue.

This bill makes that much easier. It also give employees more information about their super. Superannuation has become much more centre of mind for a lot of people at a younger age. But it still is not quite where it should be in terms of people's consciousness about their own retirement planning, retirement savings and financial independence in retirement. Anything government can do, be it through financial literacy or through amendments to regulations and law, we ought to do. We ought to do it at every level, be it through the ATO proactively pursuing employers who do not pay or other methods.

Schedule 7 protects the integrity of the tax refund system by giving the commissioner the ability to delay refunding amounts claimed where it would be reasonable to verify information provided by the taxpayer.

I think all of those things are a reasonable expectation. This is more good work that I am proud to say this Labor government continues to do in the areas of financial services, taxation and, in particular, superannuation. I believe Labor members really do understand how important superannuation is to ordinary people, to ordinary workers, to young people. The younger you are the more important it is, because you have more time to accumulate a more secure future.

But we also understand how important it is for older Australians, those who are nearing retirement, to make sure that there is nothing government does to impede what would be their best opportunity for self-sufficiency in retirement. There will always be debates around amounts and caps. I agree with people who they say there are too many changes. But sometimes those changes are necessary and for very good reasons. I am very happy to be supporting this bill. I commend it to the House and expect the opposition to follow suit.

Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Whilst I do not take my instructions from the member for Oxley—

Mr Ripoll interjecting—

I am wiser than that, I can assure you. But I do welcome the opportunity to speak on bills such as this, the Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2012 Measures No. 1) Bill 2012. The previous speaker from the coalition side made clear that it was not our intention to oppose this bill, because this bill makes a series of changes to existing taxation and superannuation laws. There are seven schedules in this bill and I will go through each of them fairly briefly. Schedule 1 refers to GST-free health supplies and preserves the original policy intention of the GST act that certain suppliers of health related goods and services are to be GST free when they involve multiparty arrangements for an insurer or a government entity.

Schedule 2 addresses the GST treatment of appropriations whereby noncommercial activities of government related entities are not subject to GST.

With regard to schedule 3, this will continue a pause in indexation of concessional caps so that it will remain fixed at $25,000 up to and including the 2013-14 financial year. This schedule in my view continues the attack by the government on Australians that are trying to provide for their retirement. In government, the coalition will look to revisit the levels of concessional contribution caps and co-contributions schemes, obviously, if and when the budget is in a strong enough position to afford it.

When we talk about the importance of superannuation, I think it is often similar to what I say in the schools of the electorate of Cowan, which is that both sides of politics in this country believe in making this country the best it can be. It is the way in which we get there which is the difference between the two sides. When we look at things like concessional caps, it is something like an article of faith: if someone wants to support themselves and remove themselves as a net taker or a net user of government support through superannuation that should be the case and it should be supported. If someone has worked hard throughout their lives and accumulated assets and wealth, we should give that person the best opportunity to, again, not be a net user, not be a taker of government services but remain a contributor. If they can put more away for their superannuation and not become a burden on the taxpayer, then that is what should occur.

We should not see those that have worked hard, those that have accumulated assets, as a target for increased taxation but rather as people who we do not need to worry about in the future and that the taxpayers do not need to worry about. Those that are in need of government support are the ones that can receive that support as opposed to just targeting those that have worked very hard, made some very good decisions and accumulated assets. We should be trying to make sure that they put enough away for their own superannuation.

With regard to schedule 4, this refers to the refund of excess concessional contributions on superannuation. The relief provided by this amendment is a one-off and would not apply where a taxpayer has made excess contributions on any previous occasion on or after 1 July 2012.

Schedule 5 permits the Australian tax office to disclose details of an individual's superannuation interests and superannuation benefits to a regulator of a superannuation fund or public sector superannuation scheme, an approved deposit fund, retirement savings account provider or their administrators. The coalition supports moves to consolidate superannuation accounts but has a number of concerns that will be carefully examined by the House economics inquiry into the bill and will consider any necessary amendments arising from the committee's final report.

The amendments included in schedule 6 will require employers to report on payslips any information prescribed in the regulations about superannuation contributions.

Schedule 7 aims to provide the Commissioner of Taxation with a legislative discretion to withhold entitlements to high-risk refund integrity checks of the taxpayer's claim. The coalition believes that allowing the Commissioner of Taxation some discretion to hold back suspicious claims pending verification checks is a worthwhile initiative; however, if this discretion is applied too broadly, it has the potential to impact on the cash flow of small businesses that are not acting fraudulently.

Without doubt, the coalition does not oppose this bill; however, we must make a comment on and express a concern about the high-taxing and the high-spending agenda that the government does pursue. Since coming to power, the government has inflicted 26 new or increased taxes on Australians. Certainly, with regards to Western Australia, a $2.5 billion tax grab at the expense of the North West Shelf gas project, the carbon tax and the mining tax, are just a few examples and, as we know, the carbon tax was ruled out by the Prime Minister and the Treasurer before the 2010 election and then brought back after all the deals were done with the Greens and Independents. The world's biggest carbon tax which is set to begin on 1 July will hit all Australians, yet deliver no environmental benefits.

As I said before, the mining tax is another example of the government treating WA like a cash cow. According to Dr Henry, 65 per cent of the mining tax will come from Western Australia. I urge this government to view WA as more than just a big mine but the principal foundation of our economic strength. One thing that amazes me is that despite all this taxing, this government still cannot manage the books. The government inherited $22 billion of surplus and $70 billion of net assets. What has become of this? It has now turned into $167 billion of accumulated deficits. This equates to $4,878 of debt per taxpayer. To pay for this debt, the Labor government is still borrowing $100 million every day and the interest payments on their debt will be running in excess of $20 million a day by 2014-15.

So residents in my electorate of Cowan are sick of this government introducing new taxes in a bid to get more money to make up for their waste and mismanagement. They are sick of their hard-earned money being collected by a government whose mentality is to tax and spend. Labor's solution to every problem is to tax it and increase the costs for Australians. I have never heard of a government that has successfully taxed its way towards higher economic growth. The reality is that this government needs to learn to live within its means. It is showing that it is both lazy and incompetent by simply increasing and introducing new taxes rather than going through the proper processes to make our tax system more efficient and to make our economy more competitive. In spite of this government's strong belief, going for easy tax grabs is clearly not a viable long-term solution. As I said earlier, the coalition does not oppose this bill, however we continue to have serious concerns regarding this government's high-taxing, high-spending agenda.

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to voice my support for the Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2012 Measures No. 1) Bill 2012 and commend those opposite for supporting this wonderful piece of legislation. This bill brings in a raft of amendments to ensure Australia's tax and superannuation systems operate in a fair and just manner in the best interests of the Australian people. This bill seeks to re-establish an intended operation of GST law by making certain the supply by a healthcare provider, paid for by an insurer or a government entity, is treated as a GST-free supply where the related supply from the healthcare provider to an individual is a GST-free health supply. This bill also amends A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 to restore the policy intent that noncommercial activities of government related entities are not subject to GST.

It also brings in the government's Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook measure to halt the indexation of the concessional contributions cap for one year. The bill provides eligible people the opportunity to have certain excess concessional contributions refunded in tax, giving individuals who exceed their concessional contribution caps for the first time a second chance.

It allows the ATO to offer improved online services by allowing taxation officers to on-disclose protected information to superannuation entities and the administrators, and it implements a necessary integrity measure by giving the Commissioner of Taxation discretion to delay refunding an amount to a taxpayer pending checks of their claim. These are all necessary actions I am pleased to see in this bill, and I echo again the support of those opposite.

But I would like to speak in greater detail about the bill's requirement that employers keep their workers in the loop about superannuation contributions, including how much and when payment is expected. It is a sad truth—and I think that some of the members on this side of the chamber would have seen it in their previous jobs—that not all employers do the right thing. Certainly in my time working in the education union I saw education employers that had got into trouble. Thankfully, it is not something that happens a lot in the education sector but it does happen. When employers do not do the right thing—or some rogues or those in economic trouble do not do the right thing—and they do not make their superannuation guarantee contributions in full and on time, the employee misses out.

This troubling situation is only made worse when employees are left in the dark and they cannot ask the ATO to step in on their behalf. Sometimes when a business is going to the wall it is a tough time for the management and they just forget to communicate with their employees. This problem impacts on thousands of workers. You need only look at the ATO 2010-11 annual report to see the extent of the problem: almost 18,000 employee complaints were investigated, superannuation guarantee entitlements for nearly 300,000 employees were raised, and $269 million in superannuation guarantee charge and $139 million in penalties were collected.

This bill will allow employees to check that their contributions have actually been made by their employers, because once it is sitting in the hands of the trustees of the super fund it is ticking over for the benefit of the employee. Obviously when it is sitting in the office tin it is not benefiting the employee at all, even though that was the contractual relationship: that they receive the money. So it is great to see the Gillard Labor government take action to address this significant problem.

Superannuation has a long history in Australia. Way back in 1915, the Income Tax Assessment Act provided for tax deductibility of employer contributions made on behalf of employees and for the exemption of superannuation fund earnings from taxation—obviously a good initiative back in 1915 but not widely accessed by many in the workforce. Fast forward to the early 1970s, and still only 32 per cent of workers were covered by superannuation. Obviously with superannuation you had the benefit of investment and accumulation and also the relative certainty of making those investments by the appropriate mechanisms. In 1973, the Whitlam Labor government established the National Superannuation Committee of Inquiry. However, it was a Liberal-Country Party government that decided against setting up a contributory national superannuation scheme in 1977.

Fast forward to the 1990s, when 64 per cent of employees had superannuation coverage—obviously better but nowhere near good enough. So it was in 1992 that the Keating Labor government, building on the initiatives of the Hawke government, introduced compulsory superannuation. I seem to recall that I was working in 1992—I was in my sixth year of teaching—and there was certainly a wages trade-off as part of the original deal. We saw after the legislation that a year later 80 per cent of employees either made super contributions or had them made on their behalf. Since then many other steps have been taken to improve security for retiring workers by creating a fair, sustainable and efficient superannuation system. There has now been a gradual increase, and we have seen in the enterprise bargaining context that people do make trade-offs in terms of what they will do at their retirement.

The 2012-13 budget is building on this history of superannuation and of reforms by taking another step forward, boosting the superannuation guarantee from nine per cent eventually up to 12 per cent. From 1 July this year, workers earning up to $37,000 will get a boost to their superannuation savings worth up to $500. This ensures they effectively pay no tax on their superannuation guarantee contributions. This follows our decision to bring in the low-income superannuation contribution. It is not right that a small number of high-income earners have been getting a much better tax deal out of super than millions of Australians on average incomes—although I did notice some opposite speaking against this in their speeches. This Labor government is taking action to make the system fairer by bringing down the higher tax concession that very high-income earners receive on their concessional contributions. This will bring them a little bit closer in line with the concession received by average income earners.

No matter what we see, unfortunately some people opposite will continue to whinge and moan, but I note that they do support this legislation. It is always good in government when you can look at the average workers and their needs rather than people like Clive Palmer and Gina Rinehart. It is always good to put the average worker first. What we are doing is appropriately governing for all Australians and supporting families and businesses currently struggling to cope with the cost of living. I commend the legislation to the House.

Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I speak in support of the Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2012 Measures No. 1) Bill 2012. Nothing defines the difference between the Labor side of politics and the coalition more than superannuation. Labor built the superannuation scheme in this country. Whitlam was the founding father—really the Henry Parkes—of superannuation with his proposals back in the early 1970s, but it was Hawke and Keating who built a $1.3 trillion-plus superannuation scheme and funds across the country which have meant that we are the fourth largest holder of superannuation funds in the world. We are looking to another $500 billion worth of superannuation in the next 20 years or so. I notice positive comments by former New South Wales Liberal opposition leader John Brogden in relation to the way this government is building superannuation. For example, the increase from nine to 12 per cent on superannuation means that 43,000 people in my electorate of Blair in South-East Queensland will benefit from the superannuation reforms, 'securing superannuation', as it says in our policy. The legislation before the chamber is part of that package, and I think it is important that we make these reforms. This is one of the few bills with respect to superannuation that those opposite are prepared to accept and agree to. We welcome that. We hope that they have similar Damascus road conversion experiences with respect to superannuation in the future. As the member for Moreton said, the first schedule really deals with a GST-free health supply. There is a fixing up of a Federal Court case in relation to problems caused by that judgment. Often we have to bring in legislation to fix up cases—this time caused by the full court of the Federal Court in a case. That relates to restoring the intention of policy so that noncommercial activities of government-related entities are not subject to GST, so we have done that in schedule 2.

Schedule 3 implements the MYEFO measure outlook in relation to pausing indexation of concessional superannuation cap for a year. It remains fixed at $25,000—it was expected to go up to $30,000, but that includes up to and including the 2013-14 financial year and has an impact on the over-50 group as well. Schedule 4 gives eligible individuals the option to have certain excess concessional contributions refunded.

I note the comment made back on 1 March by Minister Shorten in relation to this matter. He made this point, and I think he is correct:

The introduction of this bill marks another important step the government is taking to improve the fairness of the superannuation system, by making sure those individuals who make a genuine mistake get a second chance.

It means, effectively, that eligible individuals have the option to have excess concessional contributions of up to $10,000 refunded and assessed at the marginal tax rate instead of a more punitive, potentially higher, tax rate of excess contributions tax, which is certainly quite prohibitive. This is an issue which has been raised with me as a federal member on numerous occasions by a number of middle and upper-middle income earners—not just the highest income earners—in my electorate.

I have seen the benefits of what the Australian Taxation Office has had to do with respect to those employers who have failed to comply with their obligations to pay superannuation for employees. There are quite dodgy employers in relation to this matter. I am not going to start naming them, but there are a number of cases that I have heard of as a federal member. People have said to me that they have expected, and have thought, that their employers were paying superannuation but, in fact, they have discovered that they themselves are vulnerable when the company goes bust or falls on hard times. They have found that, in fact, the superannuation has not been paid, and they were not notified. They thought the employer was doing the right thing. They thought the employer was paying the money. They were not given any information on the contributions in time to take any action. The law used to require employers to report their contributions within 30 days of making them; but the coalition, when in government, got rid of that requirement back in 2004. It is a sad indictment and a big mistake in that it increased the capacity and opportunity for rogue employers to get around their superannuation obligations at law.

This particular provision was an announcement as part of our federal election campaign package in 2010. It requires employers to report to employees, on payslips, not only how much super they will be paying but also when they plan to pay it. This measure comes into force from 1 July 2012. It is not difficult for employers to do that. I was an employer for 20 years before I was elected to this place and I cannot see that it is too onerous. I think information is power, and it helps employees in those circumstances to take legal action and to make complaints to the Australian Taxation Office, and it is important that that take place. The member for Moreton was outlining the fact that there are nearly 18,000 employee complaints to the ATO regarding superannuation guarantee entitlements. I have to say that in the five years I have been a federal member, I have seen quite a number of these matters—perhaps not as many complaints or issues raised in relation to Medicare, family law or social security, but a considerable number of these complaints have come across my desk from constituents who have been very concerned. To put it in its context of 2010-11, we are talking about investigations that related to 279,000 employees. That is an enormous number of people. If you put those people into the MCG they will fit a number of times. That is the extent of the people who have had problems in this regard.

This is legislation which, when you look at it on its face, does not look particularly interesting or sexy, or like something that would engage the front page of the Daily Telegraph, but we are talking about legislation that will make a big difference. It will empower those employees who are most vulnerable and most likely to be subject to fraud, embezzlement or mismanagement of corporate affairs by their employers—particularly part-time or casual employees, women, people in low-income and low-paid areas like the service industries and cleaners and the like, who find themselves at risk of rogue employers. There are not that many, but there are still some. In fact, when you consider 279,000 employees were found to be affected in superannuation investigations by the ATO in one year and the raising of $517 million, the collecting of $269 million in superannuation guarantee charges and the collecting of $139 million in penalties, it has an enormous impact not just on corporate Australia but also on people in communities across the country.

I am pleased that we are making a big difference. One of the things that I am pleased we are making a difference on—and I will finish on this note—is the extra superannuation for 23,600 low-income earners in my electorate. I am pleased with what we are doing for senior Australians in allowing superannuation to continue. Those superannuation contributions for older Australians who are transitioning from full-time work into part-time work as they go into retirement is an important step as well. This is part of our securing our superannuation package. I am pleased to support it. I think it is worthy of support and I am glad those opposite have, like St Paul on the road to Damascus, decided to support us in this regard.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank those members who have contributed to this debate on the Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2012 Measures No. 1) Bill 2012. Schedule 1 seeks to maintain the existing GST treatment for third-party procured GST-free health supplies. These amendments ensure that a health supply by a healthcare provider paid for by an insurer, statutory compensation scheme operator, compulsory third-party scheme operator or government entity under a health-funding arrangement is treated as GST-free supply to the extent that the underlying supply from the healthcare provider to the individual is a GST-free health supply. This will avoid increased compliance costs that would otherwise arise for taxpayers and multiparty arrangements involving supplies of health related goods and services. These amendments will apply from 1 July 2012.

Schedule 2 clarifies the GST treatment of government appropriations following the 2009 full Federal Court decision in the TT-Line case. These amendments will ensure that the non-commercial activities of government related entities are not subject to GST. These amendments ensure that government entities do not face an increase in compliance costs, and do not have to change their budgetary processes and practices. These amendments will also apply from 1 July 2012.

The amendments contained in Schedule 3 amend the tax law to pause the indexation of the superannuation concessional contributions cap for one year. This change will generate budgetary savings while at the same time maintaining a cap which continues to provide an incentive for individuals to contribute over and above the mandatory superannuation guarantee contributions.

Schedule 4 gives eligible individuals the option of excess concessional contributions being taken out of their superannuation fund and assessed at marginal tax rates, rather than incurring the potentially higher effective rate of excess contributions tax. This measure will make the concessional contributions caps fairer and is expected to benefit just over 30,000 individuals over the forward estimates period. The Australian Tax Office will handle the majority of the administration process to minimise the additional compliance costs on funds and individuals.

Schedule 5 includes a further exception to the secrecy provisions in division 355 of schedule 1 of the Taxation Administration Act 1953. This measure is part of a broader package of superannuation measures aimed at making it easier for superannuation funds and their beneficiaries to locate and consolidate unnecessary and lost superannuation interests and benefits. This measure will allow the ATO to disclose superannuation information to superannuation entities, and exempt public sector superannuation schemes, retirement savings account providers and their administrators.

Schedule 6 delivers on one of the central elements of the government's Securing Super package, announced during the 2010 election campaign. It requires employers to report to employees on pay slips not only how much super they will be paying but also when they plan to pay it. The measure comes into force on a date to be set by proclamation. This measure will give employees more information about their superannuation contributions. Employees will know when they can check their funds that their contributions have been made. This is very important because the system depends crucially on employees monitoring their contributions. If employees identify unpaid contributions earlier, the ATO can take compliance action more quickly and is more likely to recover the unpaid super.

The government will give serious consideration to the recommendation from the House of Representatives Economics Committee that it would be more efficient to have a single commencement date which would provide for the reporting of actual contributions. The committee concluded that if the industry can meet the 1 July 2013 deadline for introducing the reporting of actual contributions then the government should cease plans for interim reporting. However, if the industry cannot meet the proposed 1 July 2013 deadline for actual reporting then in this case interim measures would have to be considered.

Schedule 7 protects the integrity of the tax refund system by providing the commissioner with the ability to delay refunding amounts where it would be reasonable to verify information provided by the taxpayer. These changes seek to strike a balance between a taxpayer's right to receive a prompt refund and the commissioner's obligation to ensure the integrity of the tax refund system. These amendments will ensure that the commissioner is able to properly investigate claims where he suspects that the amount claimed might be incorrect, including due to carelessness, recklessness or fraud.

The amendments also preserve taxpayer rights by requiring the commission to notify the taxpayer if he decides to delay refunding the amount and allow the taxpayer to object if the commissioner has not refunded the amount after 60 days. These amendments will apply from royal assent. I commend this bill the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation announced.

Bill agreed to.

Ordered that this bill be reported to the House without amendment.