Claiming tax deductions for personal superannuation contributions
You may be able to claim a tax deduction for personal super contributions that you made to your super fund from your after-tax income during the 2021 financial year. Before you can claim a deduction for your personal super contributions, you must give your super fund a Notice of intent to claim or vary a deduction for personal contributions form (NAT 71121) and receive an acknowledgement from your fund. There are other eligibility criteria that you must meet.
The personal super contributions that you claim as a deduction will count towards your concessional contributions cap. When deciding whether to claim a deduction for super contributions, you should consider the super impacts that may arise from this, including whether:
- You will exceed your contribution caps
- Division 293 tax applies to you
- You wish to split your contributions with your spouse
- It will affect your super co-contribution eligibility.
If you would like to discuss whether contributing to your super fund and claiming a deduction is right for your individual situation, please do not hesitate to contact our office.
You can’t claim a deduction for superannuation contributions paid by your employer directly to your super fund from your before-tax income such as:
- The compulsory super guarantee
- Salary sacrifice amounts
- Reportable employer super contributions shown on your annual payment summary.
If you are eligible and want to claim a tax deduction for your personal super contributions, you must first notify your fund that you intend to do so. The notice you give to your fund must be both valid and in the approved form. You can provide your notice of intent in the approved form by either:
- Completing a Notice of intent to claim or vary a deduction for personal super contributions (NAT 71121)
- Using your fund’s own paper form
- Completing an electronic form on your fund’s website, if available (check with your fund to ensure they developed their form according to our guidelines).
Your fund must send you a written acknowledgment, telling you they have received a valid notice from you. You must also receive the acknowledgment from your fund before you claim the deduction on your tax return. You will need to provide a notice of intent to each super fund if you made contributions to more than one fund.
Further information can be found on the ATO website. If you have any questions about claiming deductions for personal superannuation contributions, please do not hesitate to contact our office!
