The Payday Super Bring-forward Maximum Contribution Base (MCB) approach from 1 July 2026 – an extra Payday Super Challenge for any business with Super Guarantee (SG) Employees earning above an expected $270,000 p.a. in 2026/27
The Treasury Laws Amendment (Payday Superannuation) Bill 2025 (“New Law“) now has Royal Assent and will commence to apply to paydays (or Qualifying Earnings (“QE“) days) from 1 July 2026. Despite some clear improvements under the New Law, in addition to the well-known cash-flow and other compliance challenges affecting ALL employers, a lesser-known but significant feature of the New Law could, from 2026/27, produce substantial cash-flow and other implications for those businesses with one or more Higher-earning Super Guarantee (“SG“) Employees (including directors, salaried partners, mining engineers, AFL/NRL players and more) who earn above an expected $270,830 p.a. in QE (the replacement for Ordinary Time Earnings). For example, from 2026/27, the expected $32,500 annual employer SG contribution obligation for a Higher Earning Employee with QE of $500,000 will be largely payable by the end of quarter 2 of each year (twice as fast as currently). If the QE is $1 Million, this becomes approximately 4 times as fast (i.e. $32,500 largely payable by the end of quarter 1). If such an employee changes employers during a year, things become even more interesting …