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New opportunities for employees to claim additional superannuation

Under the current rules, the maximum amount of “concessional” superannuation contributions that can be claimed is $25,000.00 per person per annum.

     

 

This is referred to as the “concessional contributions cap”. Concessional contributions refer to those contributions that are claimed as a tax deduction by the person or entity paying the contribution. They include employer contributions, salary sacrifice contributions and personal deductible contributions.

Up until 30 June 2017, the so-called “10 per cent rule” applied where you could only claim personal contributions if your income from employment was less than 10per cent of your total income. Note that the definition of “income” included “assessable fringe benefits” and “reportable superannuation contributions”.

This restriction meant that many employed individuals could not make deductible personal contributions to reduce their taxable incomes, and the only way to maximise their total concessional contributions cap was to make arrangements with their employer for a salary sacrifice arrangement where they would reduce their gross salary in favour of the employer making a larger contribution (above the normal 9.5 per cent of salary) to the employee’s super fund. These salary sacrifice arrangements are still available and continue to provide the same benefits, an employee may not always be able to make such arrangements with their particular employer.

Salary sacrifice arrangements can only be made prospectively, which means that if, say, the employee wanted to make a lump sum contribution near the end of the financial year, this would not be possible.

With the changes applying from 1 July 2017, employees can now make additional personal contributions and claim a tax deduction for the additional contributions, thus putting them on the same footing as self-employed people. The additional flexibility of this system may be helpful in several different scenarios. Take the following for example:

  • Mary is working as a specialist teacher earning, say, $110,000.
  • She has had an investment property in a capital city for many years and decides to sell the property to rearrange her investments in preparation for planned retirement in a few years.
  • She is shocked to find out from her accountant that based on the estimated sale price, there will be a taxable capital gain of $100,000 on the sale of the property which will cost her almost $45,000 in additional tax.
  • Mary is able to make an additional contribution to superannuation of $14,500 and, as a result, reduces her tax bill by around $7,000.
  • Although Mary’s super fund will have to pay tax of $2,175 on the additional contribution, she is still almost $5,000 better off.

Or take the case of Joe who is employed as a builder and earns $60,000 p.a. In May, Joe receives a bequest of $25,000 from the estate of a recently deceased relative. He would like to retain around $6,000 of the money to take the family on a holiday trip and save the balance of $19,000.

After talking to his financial adviser, Joe decides to contribute the full $25,000 to his existing superannuation fund; $19,000 is claimed as a concessional contribution and $6,000 as a non-concessional contribution. As a result of claiming the additional contribution, Joe receives an additional tax refund of $6,800, which he uses for the family holiday.

After allowing for the additional tax in the super fund on the concessional contribution of $2,850 (i.e. 15 per cent of $19,000), Joe has increased his net savings by $3,150 and also has an additional $800 spending money for the holiday!

Note that people who are 65 or older are still required to meet the “work test” in order to claim concessional contributions, although this is not normally an issue for people with a significant part of their income coming from wages.

Note also that just like salary sacrifice superannuation contributions, Centrelink adds back any personal concessional contributions claimed when assessing entitlements that are subject to the “income test”.

 

Bob Locke
25 November 2019
smsfadviser.com

 


David Forrest Download David's Adviser Profile

David Forrest

Director
BEc (Acc), MBA, CPA, FFin

David has been in the Financial Services Industry for nearly 30 years. He was one of the founding Directors of the successful Financial Planning and Stockbroking Practice, Henderson Gregory Forrest, for a decade. Prior to that, he held senior roles in companies such as ING, KPMG Accountants and AMP. David was previously Chairman of OAMPS Superannuation Trustee Board and currently serves as an independent Board Director for several companies.

David’s extensive experience in all forms of superannuation, including Self Managed Super Funds (SMSF), Defined Benefit Funds, retirement funding through Account Based Pensions, stockbroking with a focus on Direct Share Investment, Taxation/Remuneration Planning, Centrelink, Aged Care and business management, equip him to advise expertly on all aspects of Financial Advice.

Those with a particular interest in superannuation/SMSFs, direct share investment, salary packaging or applying for the Centrelink Pension will find his knowledge and ability in formulating and implementing creative, logical and simple wealth creation strategies a valuable asset.

David maintains a strong personalised client service focus, providing tailored solutions for clients.

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David Forrest is an Authorised Representative of Integrity Financial (SA) Pty Ltd ABN 16 133 921 187 — AFSL No 334846

Michelle Forrest

Michelle Forrest

Business Finance Manager
B Bus (Acc), CPA

Michelle’s career has spanned across the Financial Services, Retirement Living and Aged Care industries working in the private sector, not for profit and more recently with the state government for over 20 years. Her experience extends to many facets of the financial services industry, having worked in superannuation administration, technical support and financial planning practice administration.

Commencing with AMP and subsequently working in commerce and accounting roles with companies such as Brambles, Adelaide Bank Retirement Services, ECH Inc and SA Health and Wellbeing, Michelle returns to financial services after working in practice financial management at Henderson Gregory Forrest. This wide range of experience from senior accounting and management roles has provided Michelle with a strong background in business administration.

With an astute financial acumen and keen interest in business improvement strategies, Michelle ensures the smooth running of the Integrity Financial Advisory practice providing valued management support to our personalised client service focus.

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Darren Chalk Download Darren's Adviser Profile
Natasha Bartlett
Kelly Collins
Jasmine Smith

Jasmine Smith

Client Service Manager

Jasmine has worked in the financial services industry for over 12 years in all areas of client administration, working with David since 2013.

Jasmine has extensive knowledge and experience in client service including implementation of advice, portfolio reporting, assisting with the establishment of Self Managed Super Funds (SMSFs), term deposit management and a long history of helping clients with their enquiries.

Jasmine’s attention to detail, yet gentle approach, means she is able to solve the trickiest of questions for our client community.

Jasmine has gained her Certificate III in Financial Services qualification.

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Merrilyn Smith

Merrilyn Smith

Senior Client Service Manager

Merrilyn has worked in the financial services industry for over 11 years in all areas of client administration, and is a new addition to our client services team, returning from Melbourne to join the team in June 2019.

Merrilyn has extensive knowledge and experience in client service including implementation of advice, managed fund administration, assisting with the establishment of Self Managed Super Funds (SMSFs) and process improvement for the previous practices she has worked with. Merrilyn’s experience with direct shares constitutes the other part of our administrative support for direct equity investments.

Merrilyn’s warm and caring nature continues to endear her to our clients and she has already established herself as a valued member of our team.

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