A musician who works as a sole trader, holds an ABN and sends an invoice is still owed super by whoever pays them to perform. The ATO's position is that the performer rule applies regardless of an ABN, an invoice, a contractor label, a Statement by supplier form, or being engaged only once. It is set out on the ATO page Super for sportspeople, performers, film makers and related activities, which is the source for everything on this page.
Who pays it
The person or business that is liable to pay the musician's fee owes the super. Not the musician. A sole trader does not fund their own super out of a fee that was agreed as their fee: the payer contributes 12% of it to the musician's fund, on top of the fee unless the two of them agreed the fee was inclusive.
For a band, that is usually the bandleader who took the booking and pays the other members. For a venue that books each member directly, it is the venue. When an agent or a bandleader collects the money for the whole group, it depends on what the hirer agreed to, and the guide on agents below walks through the four patterns.
Source: ATO, Super for sportspeople, performers, film makers and related activities (QC107606)
Two structures that change the answer
- A musician who invoices through their own company, trust or incorporated association. The company is engaged, not the person, and the company is responsible for super for its own people. The payer owes nothing.
- A band that invoices as a partnership with its own ABN. The partners look after their own contributions.
A sole trader is neither. Registering a business name does not make you a company, and a bandmate invoicing through a Pty Ltd changes their position, not yours.
Source: ATO, Super for sportspeople, performers, film makers and related activities (QC107606)
How much, and on what
12% of the performance fee, with GST excluded. A GST-registered musician who invoices $400 plus $40 GST is owed $48 of super, on the $400. If the invoice itemises travel, equipment hire or a PA the musician brings, those parts are left out. A single lump sum with no breakdown is treated as all performance, so itemise.
The same $400, two agreements
- On top: fee to the musician
- 400.00
- On top: super to their fund
- 48.00
- On top: costs the payer
- 448.00
- Inclusive: fee to the musician
- 357.14
- Inclusive: super to their fund
- 42.86
- Inclusive: costs the payer
- 400.00
Whether super sits inside the fee or on top of it is agreed between the musician and the payer, and it is worth agreeing in writing before the gig. If you quoted $400 and nobody mentioned super, the fee is $400 and the super sits on top of it.
Source: ATO, Super for sportspeople, performers, film makers and related activities (QC107606)
What the musician cannot be paid
The super has to reach the fund. A payer cannot hand the 12% to the musician as extra cash, and agreeing to take it that way does not discharge the obligation, even under an inclusive arrangement. If it is paid to the person instead of the fund, it has not been paid.
If a deadline is missed, the shortfall becomes a Super Guarantee Charge, which the payer pays to the ATO rather than the fund, with interest and an administration component, and it is not deductible.
Source: ATO, Super for sportspeople, performers, film makers and related activities (QC107606)
What to give the person paying you
- Your fund's name and its USI, the unique superannuation identifier.
- Your member number with that fund.
- Your ABN, whether you are registered for GST, and your date of birth if you are under 18.
- Whether you invoice as yourself, through a company, or as a partnership.
Give it before the gig. The first contribution a payer makes for you has 20 business days to arrive and every one after that has 7, and a payer who is still waiting on your fund details is the one who misses it.
Sidefill collects exactly this through one link the band passes around, once, and reuses it on every gig after that.
Source: ATO, Super for sportspeople, performers, film makers and related activities (QC107606)