Small Business Superannuation Clearing House is closing!

This would be serious news if the Clearing House was a pub for superannuation lawyers to gossip and otherwise exchange technical information. However, it is not. Fortunately, that pub still operates.

The Clearing House is a service provided by the Australian Taxation Office. It is a means for small employers to make superannuation contributions for their employees. The Clearing House will cease operations on 1 July 2026. Also, it will not be possible for a new employer to register with the Clearing House after 30 September 2025.

Why is it closing down?

The reason for the closing down of the Clearing House is that it will no longer be required once the PayDay superannuation contributions reforms are in place (the intended start date being 1 July 2026).  The PayDay reforms will require employers to make their compulsory superannuation contributions when they pay salary rather than the current system where compulsory superannuation contributions are made quarterly in arrears.

Employers currently registered with and using the Clearing House will have to find alternative suppliers of clearing house/contribution services such commercial clearing houses or payroll software providers.  While employers not currently registered with the Clearing House can register on or before 30 September 2025 and use the services of the Clearing House until 30 June 2026, there seems little point in doing so.

Impact of the Clearing House closing down

Closing of the Clearing House will have little, if any, impact on superannuation funds as contributions will still be made by the SuperStream system.

Why use the Clearing House?

The primary attraction of the Clearing House was that it was a free online service and the employer only had to make on payment (equal to the total of the compulsory superannuation contributions for its employees) and the ATO would then allocate the payment to the various superannuation funds in accordance with the instructions of the employer.  However, for the employer to register with the Clearing House, the employer could only have less than 20 employees or an annual aggregated turnover of less than $10m.

Another attraction of the Clearing House is that the Clearing House is an “approved clearing house” with the consequence that, for purposes of determining whether the employer is liable for a superannuation guarantee charge (as the employer has underpaid or not paid the required contribution), the date of payment to the Clearing House is treated as the date of payment to the relevant superannuation fund. 

This deeming does not apply to the timing of the tax deduction to the employer of the contribution.  The employer is only entitled to a tax deduction in respect of the 2025/26 income year if the  contribution is received by the relevant superannuation fund during that income year.  The Australian Taxation Office will, generally, not devote compliance resources to determine minor mismatches between the date the contribution is received by the Clearing House compared to the date the relevant superannuation fund receives the contribution.  So, if the Clearing House receives the contribution during the 2025/26 income year, the Taxation Office will, generally accept, that contribution was received by the relevant super fund during the same income year.  Consequently, the employer could claim a tax deduction in respect of the 2025/26 income year without having to verify that the relevant superannuation fund received the contribution during that income year.