Q&A: I’m over 75. Can I make a super contribution?

But there are some rules that need to be met for it to be a downsizer. To be eligible to make a downsizer contribution, there are some restrictions on what the property is, the asset is. You said you sold an investment property. Now, in order to be eligible to make a downsizer contribution, the property which is sold either needs to be fully exempt from capital gains tax under the primary residence rules, the ‘home’ resident rules, or partially exempt.

For example, Garth sells his house today; that is fully exempt from capital gains tax because it’s my primary residence, my main residence exemption. It also works for partial CGT exemption.

Another example, Garth had a house in Melbourne. He lived in it for 20 years. He then bought a new house in Sydney, but I kept my house in Melbourne as an investment property. If within the first 10 years of renting that property that I used to live in, if I rent that out, that would be partially exempt from CGT. So if your investment property here was never your home, you could not make a downsizer contribution. You wouldn’t be eligible. If your investment property you own here was at any time your main residence, say in the last 10 years, it might be partially exempt from CGT, and therefore you could contribute up to $300,000 of the proceeds from that sale into superannuation.

We put a downsizer contribution article out. So, if it was an asset of a residence you lived in at some point in time, have a look at that article and make sure you meet all those other rules to get the money in. If not, you could not make a contribution in the super. The one carve out, is a 28 day rule. It says that you can make a contribution 28 days after the month in which you turn 75. So, if you’re 75 in the last month, you might still be able to do it. But it’s only 28 days after the end of the month in which you turn 75.