IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Contribution Caps

This important information relates to many members’ super accounts; their circumstances may be different from yours. If you are in doubt about whether or not a particular provision applies to you or if you simply would like further information, please call us on 1300 133 177. For details of how contribution caps work for your defined benefit, view your Supplementary Annual report.

It is important for you to consider your own personal financial circumstances, objectives and needs (your needs). We provide general information only and it may not be right for you. If you would like someone to help consider your needs before making additional contributions you should speak with a licensed or appropriately authorised financial adviser. To speak with an NGS Super financial adviser please call us on 1300 133 177.

Contribution Caps

Annual caps apply to contributions to your super. Contributions over these caps are subject to additional tax.

Contribution tax

The Government taxes employer contributions and salary sacrifice contributions at a rate of 15% unless you are a ‘high income earner’ (see below). If you exceed your contribution cap you may be charged a higher tax rate by the government.

The Government also applies a rate of 15% tax on any after-tax contributions for which you claim a personal tax deduction. You should consult a licensed financial adviser for assistance with what tax rates may apply to your personal circumstances.

Claim tax deductions for personal contributions made.

You may be able to claim a full deduction for personal super contributions, until you turn 75. If you are between 65 and 75, you must meet the work test exemption criteria to be eligible to claim the deduction.

Once a contribution has been made, you must submit a Notice of intent to claim or vary a deduction for personal super contributions form to us.

Further information including information about the work test exemption criteria can be found here.

Total Superannuation Balance (TSB)

Total Superannuation Balance means (generally) the 30 June value of a person's superannuation interests in all their super funds in both the accumulation phase and the retirement phase, plus any in-transit rollovers.

A person's TSB may be adjusted for credits arising from certain types of annuities and pensions in the retirement phase, and for ‘structured settlements’. It will change each year due to the effect of investment returns, contributions, lump sum payments, regular drawdowns and other transactions.

Caps on concessional (before-tax) contributions

Concessional contributions include employer and salary sacrifice contributions and some other contributions and allocations from reserves.

The cap for the current financial year is:

  • $30,000 for all ages.

From 1 July 2019, individuals may be allowed to exceed their annual concessional contribution cap in a given financial year. In order for this provision to apply, their Total Superannuation Balance on 30 June immediately prior to the start of that financial year must be less than $500,000 and they must have unused amounts of concessional contribution cap from within the previous 5 years. Only unused amounts from 1 July 2018 onwards will be considered. If these provisions apply, unused concessional cap amounts from eligible prior years will be available to be used where the current year cap is exceeded, avoiding any excess contribution assessment.

Caps on non-concessional (after-tax) contributions

The caps per financial year are:

  • $120,000, or
  • $360,000 in three years, subject to age limits*

* To accommodate larger contributions, an eligible person may generally ‘bring forward’ two financial years' of non-concessional contributions - thus being able to make up to $360,000 of non-concessional contributions within 3 years. An eligible person who makes a non-concessional contribution in excess of $120,000 in a financial year automatically triggers this ‘bring forward’ provision. Please visit the www.ato.gov.au for more information on contribution caps and applicable age limits.

Once you trigger the bring-forward arrangement:

  • any change to the non-concessional contributions cap for the bring-forward period doesn’t apply to you. The bring-forward cap amount is based on the cap in the first year of the period.  
    • For example, if the non-concessional contributions cap in the second and third year of a bring-forward period changed to $120,000 due to indexation, your non-concessional cap will still be $330,000 ($110,000 × 3 years) and not $350,000 ($110,000 + $120,000 + $120,000).

The non-concessional contribution cap reduces to $0 for any given financial year, where the individual held a Total Superannuation Balance of $1.9m or more on 30 June immediately prior to the start of that financial year. In addition, the bring-forward provision allowable in any given financial year is also limited based on your Total Superannuation Balance (TSB) on 30 June immediately prior to the start of that financial year in the following way:

  • If your Total Superannuation Balance is less than $1.66m, you can use the full three-year bring forward to make a $360k contribution.
  • If your Total Superannuation Balance is between $1.66m and $1.78m, you can only bring forward one additional year of caps, to make a $240k contribution.
  • If your Total Superannuation Balance is between $1.78m and $1.9m, no bring forward is available and you can only contribute $120k.
  • Above $1.9m Total Superannuation Balance, the cap reduces to $0 and contributions of this type cannot be made.

If you're a high income earner, you might need to pay more tax.

If you earn a ‘total income’ of more than $250,000 a year:

  • You may need to pay a further 15% on some or all of your employer contributions, salary sacrifice contributions and other concessional contributions.
  • ‘Total income’ for this purpose generally includes your normal taxable income, plus your reportable fringe benefits and your concessional superannuation contributions.

If your taxable income is less than $250,000:

  • The additional tax will apply only to those contributions which take your total income over $250,000.
  • For example, if you have a taxable income of $230,000 and your concessional contributions are $25,000, the additional tax will only apply to $5,000.

For confirmation of your year to date contributions in your account with us, please call 1300 133 177.

Further information on contributions can be found in our fact sheet Opportunities and limits for super contributions.