Payday Super rules from 1 July 2026

Payday Super late payment checker

From 1 July 2026 super must reach the fund within 7 business days of each payday. List your paydays and the dates the fund received each payment. You'll see the due date for every payday, what was late, and an estimate of the new super guarantee charge.

Try an example

Before you enter figures

This calculator doesn't decide who is an employee or which payments count. Check those with the ATO first:

Columns: type, date, amount – type is payday or payment. Download the sample CSV.

Payday amounts are

Date you paid the employee, then the amount. Example: 2/07/2026, 2000. One employee only.

Use the date the fund received it with all the details it needed – not the date you sent it. Leave blank if nothing was paid. Interest runs up to and including the day your fund receives a payment, not the day you send it.

Leave blank for today. Treated as the date the ATO would assess.

The first contribution can count as on time up to 20 business days after payday. A later payday normally due before that date is due on it too.

Has the ATO itself assessed you for super guarantee charge in the last 2 years?

Sets the uplift range: 0–40% if no, 20–60% if yes. A voluntary disclosure to the ATO before it starts a review can reduce the uplift. Don't count charges from before 1 July 2026 or assessments based on your own voluntary disclosure.

Reset

Result Estimate only

Enter your paydays to see each due date. Try an example

Estimated super guarantee charge (range)
–
Summary
–
Late super still owed
–
Notional earnings (daily compounding GIC)
–
Administrative uplift (range)
–
Next due date
–

Calculated from the figures you entered using the rules in the ATO guidance shown. Check before you lodge or pay.

Super is worked out to the cent (half a cent rounds up). Notional earnings are compounded daily and rounded to the cent per payday.

Breakdown by payday

ATO: What happens if you don't pay super correctly (the ATO has the final say on what you owe)

Assumptions and sources

  • Worked out as at 25 October 2026 (today in Melbourne): payments received on or after that date are ignored and notional earnings run to the day before it, as if the ATO assessed then.
  • Due date: the 7th business day after payday. Business days skip weekends and public holidays that cover a whole state or territory (data to 31 December 2027).
  • Dates you enter for payments are the dates the fund received them with everything needed to allocate them – not the date you sent them.
  • One employee only. Payments are applied to the oldest unpaid payday first (on-time money first, then late money), as the law applies contributions in the order received.
  • GIC rates: 10.96% (1 April 2026 – 30 June 2026), 11.43% (1 July 2026 – 30 September 2026), 11.51% (1 October 2026 – 31 December 2026), daily rate = annual rate ÷ days in the year.
  • Notional earnings run from the day after the due date up to and including the day the payment that clears the shortfall is received, or the day before the as-at date if that comes first. Calendar days, compounded daily and rounded once at the end.
  • Uplift range 0% to 40%: no ATO-initiated super guarantee charge assessment in the 2 years ending on the payday (charges from before 1 July 2026 and assessments from your own voluntary disclosure don't count). Up to 40% with no voluntary disclosure. A voluntary disclosure to the ATO before it starts a review can reduce the uplift. The lower end of the range is 0%.
  • Not included: the maximum contribution base. For 2026–27, once an employee has been paid $270,830 of qualifying earnings in the financial year, no further minimum super is required for that year (awards or agreements may still require it).
  • Not included: choice loading (25% of the contributions for the payday, capped at $1,200 for each notice period), out-of-cycle payments, longer periods allowed for exceptional circumstances, and any ATO remission.

Last checked:

Sources (9)

General information only. This is an estimate for one employee, based on the rules and rates shown. It is general information, not tax, legal or financial advice. This site is not affiliated with or endorsed by the ATO. Only the ATO can assess the super guarantee charge; for advice on your situation, talk to a registered tax or BAS agent. Check the official guidance:

How the due date works

From 1 July 2026, super is tied to each payday (the ATO calls it the QE day, for qualifying earnings). The fund must receive the contribution by the end of the 7th business day after payday.

  • Business days skip Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays that apply to the whole of any state or territory. A national holiday, or a state-wide one like NT Picnic Day, pushes the due date out for everyone.
  • Holidays in only part of a state (the Ekka, Hobart Show Day, Melbourne Cup) do not count.
  • A first payment to a new fund, or for a new employee, can arrive up to the 20th business day.

How the charge is worked out

If super for a payday is late, the ATO can assess a super guarantee charge for that payday. It has four parts:

  1. Final shortfall – super still unpaid when the ATO assesses, after on-time and late payments.
  2. Notional earnings – the GIC daily rate compounded on the base shortfall (the amount not paid on time) for each day it stays unpaid. Paying late stops it accruing, but doesn't undo what has accrued.
  3. Administrative uplift – starts at 60% of (final shortfall + notional earnings) and is reduced as below. If the ATO hasn't itself assessed you for the charge in the 2 years ending on the payday, it takes 20 percentage points off, so the uplift starts at 40%.
  4. Choice loading – 25% if the choice of fund rules weren't followed (not included here).

For 2026–27 the ATO has said it will take a supportive compliance approach (PCG 2026/1) and focus on employers who aren't moving to payday payments or correcting errors. This checker shows what the law allows the ATO to charge; it doesn't predict what the ATO will do.

Reducing the uplift

A voluntary disclosure to the ATO before it starts a review can reduce the uplift. See the ATO's voluntary disclosure page for how it works.

Your answer to the assessment questionUplift with no voluntary disclosureRange the checker shows
No ATO-initiated assessment in the past 2 years40%0% to 40%
Assessed in the past 2 years60%20% to 60%

Charges from before 1 July 2026, and assessments based on your own voluntary disclosure, don't count as an ATO-initiated assessment. The result shows the uplift as a range for your answer to that question: 0% to 40% if you haven't been assessed (the default), or 20% to 60% if you have. In both cases a voluntary disclosure can still reduce the uplift.

In the ATO's example, Jody's shortfall plus notional earnings is $400. It's her first ATO-initiated assessment since 1 July 2026, so her uplift is 40% ($160) and her charge is $560.

Worked example (from the ATO)

A $1,000 payday on 4 January 2028 means $120 of super is due by 13 January 2028. If $100 reaches the fund on 25 January and the ATO assesses on 11 April 2028, the final shortfall is $20. Notional earnings compound on the full $120 for 88 days (14 January to 10 April 2028).

Frequently asked questions

When is super due under Payday Super?
From 1 July 2026, the employee's super must be received by their fund within 7 business days after each payday (the QE day). Business days exclude weekends and public holidays that apply to the whole of any state or territory.
What counts as received?
The fund must receive the contribution with all the information it needs to allocate it to the employee's account. Sending it on day 7 is not enough if it arrives later.
What is the new super guarantee charge made of?
For each payday: the final shortfall (super still unpaid when the ATO assesses), notional earnings (GIC compounded daily on the base shortfall), an administrative uplift of up to 60% (0–40%, or 20–60% if the ATO has itself assessed you in the last 2 years; a voluntary disclosure to the ATO before it starts a review can reduce the uplift), and any choice loading.
Does paying late super stop the charge?
Paying late reduces the final shortfall and stops notional earnings after the day your fund receives the payment (that day still counts), but notional earnings that have already accrued, plus uplift on them, can still be charged.
How can the uplift be reduced?
The uplift starts at 60%. The ATO takes 20 percentage points off if it has not made an ATO-initiated assessment against you in the 2 years ending on the payday (charges before 1 July 2026 and assessments from your own voluntary disclosure are ignored). A voluntary disclosure to the ATO before it starts a review can reduce the uplift. The checker shows the range: 0–40%, or 20–60% if the ATO has assessed you before.
Is this checker the ATO's calculation?
No. It is an estimate based on the law and ATO guidance shown under Sources. The ATO has the final say on what you owe.

Sources

  1. ATO – General interest charge (GIC) rates (accessed 23 October 2026)
  2. ATO – Super guarantee percentage (accessed 23 October 2026)
  3. Fair Work Ombudsman – Public holidays (accessed 23 October 2026)
  4. Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 (Federal Register of Legislation) (accessed 23 October 2026)
  5. ATO – What happens if you don't pay super correctly (the super guarantee charge) (accessed 25 October 2026)
  6. ATO – PCG 2026/1 Payday Super: first year ATO compliance approach (accessed 25 October 2026)
  7. ATO – Maximum contributions base (accessed 25 October 2026)
  8. Business Victoria – Victorian public holidays 2027 (accessed 25 October 2026)
  9. WA Government – Public holidays in Western Australia (accessed 25 October 2026)

Printed from https://payday-super-checker.pages.dev/payday-super-late-payment-checker/ on .