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How To Claim Tax Deductions from Your Super Payments?

If you are interested in contributing towards your super fund you will also be interested in making the most interest on your dollar and paying the least possible (or legally) in taxes. A good way to reduce your tax bills is to declare your super payments as deductions to your tax payable income.

If all these terms and ideas seem a little complicated and are flying way over your head stay with us for a little more for a basic description of how you can reduce your tax payments on your super fund benefits and payments.

Your first question should be if you are eligible to apply for a tax deduction on your super contribution.

Here is a list of the main requirements.
1) You must have satisfied the maximum earnings as an employee condition.
This means that you can still claim tax on your super contribution whether you or your employer paid the super as long as you income as an employee represents only 10% of your income.
Lets illustrate this with an example. Imagine you own a company or business which is your main source of income. You also work sometimes as a contractor. If the income from your “secondary” source of work is less than 10% of your total income you could claim a tax deduction on your super contributions.
2)    You must meet the age conditions.
This means you must be under 75 and over 18 to qualify for tax deductions. If you are close to these ages there is a little more details to deal with. If you are 75 or over you can only claim for deductions when the contributions you are claiming for occurred on the same month you turned 75 or earlier.
On the other hand if you are under 18 at the end of the income year you are only allowed to claim for deductions if you actually worked during that year.
3)    Your contributions were to a complying super fund or attached account or savings plan.
4)    You made the contributions to the super fund so that you or your beneficiaries can benefit from the super fund. Yes, this one mystified me too. But, hey it is an easy one to comply with.
5)    You must have filled in and filed the Deduction for Personal Super Contributions form and advised you Super Fund on how much your claiming or planning to claim as a deduction. Your super fund must have in turn agreed on the amount you intend to claim for.

Now you are ready to fight your case and make all the tax deductions you can on your super contributions. For more information and to download the forms you need you can visit the Australian Taxation Office website at www.ato.gov.au . Happy claiming!

Australian Superannuation And Temporary Residents, What Is The Deal?

Your pension fund should be one of your biggest assets during your working life. Houses, cars and other investments can be lost or lose value, but a well invested pension fund can be a lifesaver when the time comes to retire.  Saving is hard because we rarely have money to spare and if we do we can think of plenty of things to burn it on. The truth is that the only time to start saving for your pension is early and often.

However you sometimes pay towards your pension fund without ever enjoying the benefits from those contributions. This happens when you contribute towards the pension or super fund of another country and never claim the payments. You don’t want this to happen. If you are or have been working in Australia and you are planning to leave or you have already left you should do your best to make sure your super contributions are rescued and put to good use.

So let’s get down to business. Have you been working or are you working in Australia legally? If you have been doing so and you are older than 18 years of age, have earned over $450 or have done so full time even though you are under 18 it is very likely that your employer has been paying towards your super fund.

If that is so and you are leaving Australia on a valid temporary resident visa you can claim the lost super you have paid. You can do so by filling in the DASP (Departing Australia Superannuation Payment) form. You can find this form at the Australian Taxation office at www.ato.gov.au .

You can also apply for this payment online at the same website. You will of course need to supply some personal and financial information that is worth having ready before making the call or filling in the application.

You will need an Australian Tax file number, your name and date of birth. Phone in, write in, email in or visit your closest office but whatever you do don’t leave without claiming your super payments.

If you want help on how to spend the cash, invest in a good pension fund. This way you will earn interest on your savings and then interest on the interest of your savings providing you with a juicy lump sum when you need it the most.