Anika: why has my super been taken?

When Anika checked her superannuation account, money had been taken out but not by her. She was told by her super fund that the ATO withdrew the money, but then the ATO told her that the ATO did not withdraw the money.

Anika was very frustrated with the explanations provided and approached us for help. We began our complaint investigation with the same question as Anika: why has my super been taken?

We reviewed ATO records and superannuation fund activity and found the transfer had been triggered by amendments lodged by Anika’s employer, which reduced her Superannuation Guarantee Charge (SGC) entitlements.

Under existing system processes, when previously credited amounts are reduced, recovery notices are automatically issued to the super fund, requiring those amounts to be returned. In a nutshell, the system had operated as designed.

During our investigation, Anika advised that her employer had acknowledged an error and intended to lodge corrected statements. We raised this with the ATO, which confirmed that, once the corrected information was received, the account would be reassessed and further adjustments made as required.

Anika finally received a clear and understandable explanation of what had happened to her super.