On this page
- 1. Check your caps
- 2. Get your contributions in before 30 June
- 3. Consider making a tax-deductible super contribution
- 4. Consider making a non-concessional contribution
- 5. Employers: Get ready for a new super guarantee (SG) rate
- 6. Boost your spouse’s super balance
- 7. Get your salary-sacrifice arrangement ready
- 8. Confirm your super income stream payments
The end of financial year seems to come around faster every time.
Starting your year-end preparations early means when the big day arrives, you’re all prepared and not rushing to make last-minute super contributions or find missing documents.
To help ensure you’ve maximised the available benefits and opportunities that come with super, and are prepared for the year ahead, here’s SuperGuide’s top tips for the end of financial year (EOFY).
1. Check your caps
There are annual caps on how much you can put into your super account, so it’s essential to monitor the total amount of both your concessional (before-tax) and non-concessional (after-tax) contributions across all your super accounts, particularly if you’re considering making a pre-30 June contribution.
It’s important to check whether any payments intended for the previous financial year slipped into this financial year to ensure you don’t breach a cap.
It’s also a good idea to confirm with your employer or payroll person when they will be making their electronic contributions (such as salary sacrifice and SG) to your super fund, so you know whether they will hit your super account by 30 June. As your employer is not required to make SG contributions for the April to June quarter until 28 July 2022, don’t automatically assume they will make the contribution during this financial year.
You may be eligible to contribute more than your normal concessional contribution cap if you have unused cap amounts accrued from prior years.
The bring-forward measure can also permit you to contribute more than the standard annual non-concessional cap.
If you discover you have breached a cap or will do so before the end of the year due to contributions that are scheduled to be paid by your employer, don’t panic. The consequences for exceeding caps are only intended to put you in the same position you would have been if the excessive contributions were not made.
2. Get your contributions in before 30 June
If you want to have a super contribution counted in the current financial year, ensure your super fund receives it by 30 June. This is particularly important if you plan to claim a tax deduction for contributions (see tip 3).
The key date for making contributions is not when you make the payment, but when it’s received by your super fund. Even though many banks and financial institutions now offer instant payments, electronic fund transfers and BPAY can take a number of days to appear in your super account, so make sure you send off your payment well ahead of the deadline.
3. Consider making a tax-deductible super contribution
If you have space in your concessional contribution cap, consider making a personal tax-deductible contribution into your super account using some of your savings.
Although your contribution will be taxed 15% as it enters your super account (or up to 30% if your income plus your concessional super contributions is $250,000 or more), this is likely to be lower than your marginal tax rate and you could enjoy a significant tax saving.
This type of contribution is considered a concessional (before-tax) contribution and counts towards your annual concessional contributions cap.
4. Consider making a non-concessional contribution
Non-concessional (after-tax) contributions are made from money you have already paid tax on and can be a great way to boost your super account if you have spare cash available. This type of contribution is not taxed as it enters your super account.
Non-concessional contributions can make sense if you’ve already reached your concessional contributions cap, as they still allow you to give your super account a boost without exceeding your contribution cap. You pay a maximum of 15% tax on your investment earnings on money invested in super, which is usually less than you would pay outside the super system, so it can be an attractive option for savings you don’t need to access until retirement.
If you’re a lower income earner, you may also receive a co-contribution from the government in return for making a non-concessional contribution. Those with income below $57,016 in 2022–23 or $58,445 in 2023–24 are eligible.
Maybe you’re the parent to a young person. Encouraging them to take advantage of the co-contribution, or even providing them with the means to do so, will set them on the right path for successful retirement saving.
5. Employers: Get ready for a new super guarantee (SG) rate
A new financial year brings a higher rate of superannuation guarantee contribution for your employees. The rate is rising 0.5% each year until the maximum of 12% comes in on 1 July 2025.
Payroll software should make the change for you automatically, but it is worth confirming and adjusting your budget for the increased expense.
In 2022–23 the SG rate is 10.5%, in 2023–24 it is 11%, and for 2024–25 it is 11.5%. From 1 July 2025, the rate will be 12%, where it is scheduled to stay.
6. Boost your spouse’s super balance
If the balances of you and your spouse’s super accounts are unequal and you are the higher earner, consider submitting a request to split some of your super contribution with your spouse to even them up. (Spouse here refers to married and de facto couples). Requests to split need to be made by 30 June of the financial year following the year the contributions were made, so you can split some of your super contributions from last financial year if you lodge a request with your super fund by 30 June.
If your spouse has an adjusted taxable income below $40,000, you can also consider making a contribution into their super account to boost their retirement savings and earn yourself a tax rebate.
Eligible contributions into your spouse’s super account of up to $3,000 will provide you with a tax offset of up to $540.
7. Get your salary-sacrifice arrangement ready
Now is the time to start talking to your employer about putting a salary-sacrifice arrangement in place for next financial year. Salary sacrifice is an arrangement where part of your before-tax salary is paid into your super account rather than being paid to you as take-home pay. These arrangements can be a tax-effective way to boost your super account.
To be valid, a salary-sacrifice arrangement needs to be set up before you have earned the income you wish to sacrifice. You can set up a salary-sacrifice arrangement at any time, but many employers and payroll managers prefer to set these up to coincide with their annual budget and your salary review for the start of the new financial year.
If you are usually paid after you complete the work (in arrears), it may take a pay period for a new salary-sacrifice arrangement to take effect, as you have already earned some of the income you haven’t been paid for yet.
8. Confirm your super income stream payments
If you are in the retirement phase and are receiving a super pension, check you have received at least the required minimum pension or transition-to-retirement income stream payment amount during the financial year.
If you have an SMSF it is up to you (and the other trustees) to ensure the minimum payment standards are met, as underpayment can lead to compliance problems.
If your super is with a large fund, your super provider will take care of ensuring minimums are met.
After 1 July, your minimum for the new financial year will be determined, and this may be significantly different from your current minimum, especially if you’ve had a milestone birthday.
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