By making a personal super contribution and claiming the amount as a tax deduction, you may be able to pay less tax and invest more in super.
How does the strategy work?
If you make a personal super contribution, you may be able to claim the contribution as a tax deduction and reduce your assessable income. The contribution will generally be taxed in the fund at the concessional rate of up to 15%¹, instead of your marginal tax rate which could be up to 47%². Depending on your circumstances, this strategy could result in a tax saving of up to 32% and enable you to increase your super.
Note: From 1 July 2017, most people will be able to claim a tax deduction for personal super contributions, regardless of their employment status.
How do you claim the deduction?
To be eligible to claim the super contribution as a tax deduction, you need to submit a valid ‘Notice of Intent’ form. You will also need to receive an acknowledgement from the super fund before you complete your tax return, start a pension or withdraw or rollover money from the fund to which you made your personal contribution.
Other key considerations
- Personal deductible contributions count towards the ‘concessional contribution’ cap (which is $25,000 in the 2017/18 financial year) and tax penalties apply if you exceed the cap.
- You can’t access super until you meet a ‘condition of release’. For more information, please visit the ATO website at ato.gov.au.
- If you are an employee, another way you may be able to grow your super tax effectively is to make salary sacrifice contributions (see opposite page).
- From 1 July 2018, if certain eligibility criteria are met, you may be able to carry forward unused concessional cap amounts. This may enable you to make concessional contributions in excess of the annual cap in a future year.
Make sure you can utilise the deduction
It is generally not tax-effective to claim a tax deduction for an amount that reduces your assessable income below the threshold at which the 19% marginal tax rate is payable. This is because you would end up paying more tax on the super contribution than you would save from claiming the deduction.
Seek advice
Please give us a call and we will help you determine if you could benefit from these strategies.
Notes
1. Individuals with income above $250,000 in 2017/18 will pay an additional 15% tax on personal deductible and other concessional super contributions.
2. Includes Medicare levy
Please contact Integrity One if we can assist you with any of your financial needs.
Phone: (03) 9723 0522
Suite 2, 1 Railway Crescent
Croydon, Victoria 3136
Email: integrityone@iplan.com.au
This information is of a general nature and does not take into consideration anyone’s individual circumstances or objectives. Financial Planning activities only are provided by Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd as a Corporate Authorised Representative No. 315000 of Integrity Financial Planners Pty Ltd ABN 71 069 537 855 AFSL 225051. Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd and Integrity One Accounting and Business Advisory Services Pty Ltd are not liable for any financial loss resulting from decisions made based on this information. These articles are not owned by Integrity One Planning Services. Please consult your adviser before making decisions using this information.