Individuals - Claiming deductions for personal super contributions

If you made a personal super contribution to your fund from your after-tax income you may be able to claim a deduction in your tax return.

Before you are able to make such a claim you must first provide your super fund with a Notice of intent to claim or vary a deduction for personal super contributions form and receive a Notice of Acknowledgement of Intent to Claim from your fund.

Note there are some exclusions to the ability to claim your contributions:

• You must be 75 and under

• If you’re under 18 you must have earned employment or business income in the same year you made the contribution

• If you’re between 67 and 75 you must meet a work test for pre-30 June 2022 contributions/deductions; from 1 July 2022 this rule has been lifted.

• Compulsory super guarantee amounts are not claimable

• Salary sacrificing super amounts (pre-tax) amounts are not claimable

• Reportable Employer Super Contributions are not claimable.

The ATO lists individuals who generate their income from the following sources as eligible to claim a deduction:

• Salary and wages

• A personal business (for example, people who are self-employed contractors, or freelancers)

• Investments (including interest, dividends, rent and capital gains)

• Government pensions or allowances

• Superannuation

• Partnership or trust distributions

• A foreign source. (This does include obtaining a benefit transferred from a foreign super fund).

It is important to consider the affects that making personal super contributions can have within your superfund:

• They count towards your concessional contributions cap – will you exceed your cap? If you exceed your cap, you will have to pay extra tax and any excess concessional contributions will count towards your non-concessional contributions cap.

• Will Div 293 tax apply to you – from 1 July 2017 the threshold is $250,000 and any contributions exceeding this will attract an additional tax rate of 15%.

• Do you wish to split your contributions with your spouse? This will attract another batch of eligibility criterion to fulfil.

• You will not be entitled to a super co-contribution for any contributions you claim as a tax deduction.

Need Cordner Advisory to help?

If you would like to explore the possibility of claiming a personal super contribution deduction or require further information on the subject, please do not hesitate to contact us on (07) 5504 5700 to speak to one of our trusted advisors today.

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If you're unsure about claiming a deduction on your tax return following a personal super contribution to your fund, contact Cordner Advisory today for expert advice.