Super
Missing the 7-Day Window: The New SG Charge, 60% Uplift & Penalties (From 1 July 2026)
Miss the 7-business-day payday super deadline from 1 July 2026 and the new Super Guarantee Charge applies — with notional earnings compounded daily, an initial 60% administrative uplift, and possible choice loading. Here's how the new SGC and separate penalties work, in plain English.
The point of this page is simple: from 1 July 2026, missing the 7-business-day payday super deadline stops being a quarterly true-up and becomes a per-payday Super Guarantee Charge (SGC). Here's exactly how the new SGC is built, what the 60% administrative uplift is, the separate penalties that can sit on top, and the first-year leniency that softens the landing. Written plainly — and carefully — because this is the part employers most need to get right.
General information only — not financial, tax, superannuation, or legal advice. Penalty outcomes depend on your specific circumstances. Confirm everything with the ATO (ato.gov.au) or a registered tax or BAS agent before acting.
When the new SGC applies
The trigger is missing the deadline. A contribution is on time only if the employee's fund receives it — with everything needed to allocate it to the member's account — within 7 business days of the qualifying-earnings payday (or 20 business days for a new employee's first contribution to a new fund). Miss that, and the new SGC applies for that qualifying-earnings day. The mechanics are on the ATO's new Super Guarantee Charge page.
The four components of the new SGC
For a qualifying-earnings day, the new SGC is built from four parts:
- Individual final SG shortfall — the super you should have paid (and had received in time) but didn't.
- Notional earnings — a general-interest-charge rate applied to the base SG shortfall, compounded daily. This is the "you held onto employees' money" component, and because it compounds daily it grows the longer it's outstanding.
- Administrative uplift — an initial 60% of the total individual final SG shortfalls plus total individual notional earnings for that qualifying-earnings day. (Treat 60% as the initial/default figure and confirm the current rate on the ATO page, as guidance can be updated.)
- Choice loading — 25% of the contribution value where the choice-of-fund rules weren't met for the employee.
Put together, the new SGC is designed to be more than just "pay the super you missed" — the notional earnings and the 60% uplift make late super materially more expensive than paying on time.
The penalties that can sit on top
The SGC is one thing; penalties are a separate layer. This is the part that's easy to get wrong, so here it is precisely:
If the SGC in a Notice to Pay isn't paid within 28 days of the notice date, a late-payment penalty of 25% of the outstanding amount applies (50% if you were liable for the same penalty in the past 24 months); this penalty can't be remitted. A separate Part 7 penalty of up to 200% of the SGC may also apply and can be remitted in full or part at the ATO's discretion.
Two distinct penalties, two different rules: the 25%/50% late-payment penalty is non-remittable; the Part 7 penalty (up to 200%) can be remitted at the ATO's discretion. The authority for all of this is the ATO's new Super Guarantee Charge page — check it for the current detail before relying on any figure.
A softer first year — but only the first year
The ATO has confirmed an education-first approach for the first year under PCG 2026/1, finalised 28 January 2026. It covers qualifying-earnings days from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 inclusive: employers who try to do the right thing and fix issues quickly won't be the focus of ATO compliance action. It does not apply to qualifying-earnings days on or after 1 July 2027. The ATO's notice on the first-year compliance approach has the detail.
The right way to read this: it's breathing room to get your process right, not a reason to delay setting it up. The notional-earnings and uplift mechanics still exist; the first year just means a genuine, quickly-fixed slip is unlikely to become a compliance action.
How to never trigger it
Every component above is avoidable by hitting one target: the fund receives each contribution within 7 business days of payday. In practice that means:
- Know your clearing house's turnaround in business days — because it's received-by, not sent-by.
- Keep employee fund details current — a contribution the fund can't allocate isn't received in the way the rule requires.
- Run a dummy super batch before 1 July 2026 to confirm the real gap between submission and receipt.
The full checklist is the 12-point readiness check, and the deadline itself is explained in the 7-business-day rule: received, not sent. To see the cash side, run the free cashflow calculator.
Where to go next
- Avoid it entirely → Am I ready for payday super? The 12-point check
- Understand the deadline → The 7-business-day rule: received, not sent
- Plan the cash → What payday super does to your cashflow
- Read the full guide → Payday Super: the complete employer guide
General information only, current as at 8 June 2026, based on ATO published guidance — not financial, tax, superannuation, or legal advice. Penalty figures and the administrative uplift are based on published ATO guidance which can be updated before 1 July 2026; confirm the current position on the ATO's new Super Guarantee Charge page and with a registered tax or BAS agent before acting.