The ATO will provide more information to industry through its regular consultative forums, according to the statement.

Speaking to SMSF Adviser, the SMSF Professionals’ Association of Australia’s Jordan George said this announcement from the government provides “more time and greater certainty” for employers and SMSF trustees who still need to take action to comply with the SuperStream contribution standards.

Mr George also said the delay in implementing the SuperStream contributions data standards provides certainty for SMSF trustees about when they need to provide information to their employer and obtain an electronic service address through an SMSF messaging provider.

“The previous 1 July 2014 start date had a ‘soft delay’ until 3 November 2014 as proposed by a draft ATO legislative instrument which allowed funds that had notified the ATO that they would not comply by this date extra time to comply,” Mr George said.

“The shift to 1 July 2015 also aligns this date with the proposed date for “small employers” to comply with SuperStream. However, we will be awaiting confirmation that this date will still apply to small employers.”