You can claim tax deduction on additional personal super contributions

Personal Contributions

You can make additional personal super contributions up to your concessional contributions cap and claim an income tax deduction for those additional contributions.

Personal contributions:

• are in addition to any compulsory super contributions your employer makes on your behalf; and

• do not include super contributions made through a salary-sacrifice arrangement.

Eligibility and Concessional Contribution Cap

Some of the key eligibility criteria are:

• you meet the age restrictions

• you have given your fund a notice of intent to claim in the approved form

• your fund has validated your notice of intent form and sent you an acknowledgment.

From 1 July 2024, the concessional contributions cap is $30,000. If you exceed your cap, you will have to pay extra tax, and any excess concessional contributions you leave in super will count towards your non-concessional contributions cap.

Carry forward unused contribution cap amounts

If you have unused concessional cap amounts from previous years, you may be able to carry them forward to increase your contribution caps in later years. You are eligible to do this if you have both:

• a total super balance of less than $500,000 at 30 June of the previous financial year

• unused concessional contributions cap amounts from up to 5 previous years.

The unused cap amounts you can carry forward depends on the amount you have contributed in previous years, starting from 2018–19. You can carry forward unused cap amounts from up to 5 previous financial years, including when you were not a member of a super fund.

Unused cap amounts are available for 5 years and expire after this. For example, a 2019–20 unused cap amount that is not used by the end of 2024–25 will expire.

The oldest available unused cap amounts are carried forward first. For example, unused cap amounts from 2019–20 would be used to increase your cap first before unused cap amounts from 2020–21. Unused concessional cap amounts are applied automatically once you exceed the cap in any year.

However, if you still have made excess concessional contributions after applying unused cap amounts, you may need to pay extra tax.

Your available carry-forward contribution amounts are shown on ATO online services (select Super, then Information, then Carry forward concessional contributions).

Notice of Intent Form

As noted above, it is one of the key eligibility criteria that your super fund validates your notice of intent to claim tax deduction on your personal super contributions.

To satisfy this, you must give a valid notice in the approved form to your super fund. Then, your super fund must send you a written acknowledgment, telling you they have received a valid notice from you. You must receive the acknowledgment from your super fund before you claim the deduction on your tax return.

Tip: If you want to claim a tax deduction for your personal contributions, payments must be made and processed by your superfund by 30 June. Make sure you allow time for bank transfers and for your superfund to put the funds into your account. Most superfunds advise making the payments no later than 23 June.

If you have further questions, please contact us (https://www.goodpca.com.au/contact-us).

Disclaimer

This content is intended as a general guide for GOOD PEOPLE ACCOUNTING SERVICES clients. The information is general in nature and does not take into account your personal situation. You should consider whether the information is appropriate to your needs, and where appropriate, seek professional advice. Although every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of the information contained above, GOOD PEOPLE ACCOUNTING SERVICES disclaim all liability (except for any liability which by law cannot be excluded), for any error, inaccuracy in, or omission from the information contained on this website or any loss or damage suffered by any person directly or indirectly through relying on this information.