How to boost your SMSF balance with contributions reserving

In this guide

What is contributions reserving?
Increased concessional cap from 1 July 2024
How does it work?
Dotting your i’s and crossing your t’s
Tips and traps
The bottom line

From 1 July 2024, the annual cap for concessional (tax-deductible) contributions will increase to $30,000, up from the current $27,500, while the cap for non-concessional contributions will increase to $120,000 from $110,000.

This provides opportunities for all super fund members to boost their account balance and receive a tax deduction for their concessional contributions to sweeten the deal. But SMSFs have even more room to add to their retirement savings.

Using something called contributions reserving, and combining this with the higher contribution caps, SMSF members can potentially get $57,500 in tax-deductible contributions into their super this year. That’s double the normal annual cap amount.

What is contributions reserving?

Under the superannuation regulations, when an SMSF receives a contribution, the trustees are required to allocate that contribution to a fund member within 28 days after the end of the month that the contribution is received.

This raises timing issues and opportunities when the contribution is received by the SMSF in June of a financial year but does not need to be allocated to a specific member until July the following financial year.

Personal contributions made in June are reported to the ATO in the SMSF’s tax return in the year they are received, making them tax deductible to the member that year regardless of when they are allocated. However, those same contributions will only count towards the member’s concessional contributions cap in the year they are allocated, which may be in July the following financial year.

Increased concessional cap from 1 July 2024

As mentioned earlier, the concessional contributions cap will rise to $30,000 from 1 July 2024, an increase from the current $27,500. This indexation of the cap would allow up to $57,500 to be contributed as concessional contributions in the current 2024 financial year by using a contributions reserving strategy.

Initial concessional contributions of up to $27,500 could be made during the 2024 financial year and be allocated to the member’s account. Then, a separate concessional contribution of $30,000 could be made in June 2024, and be held in a contributions reserve and allocated no later than 28 July 2024; being in the next financial year.

How does it work?

In its simplest form, contributions reserving allows you to bring forward one year’s concessional contributions cap, effectively doubling your concessional contributions cap in a single year.

The contributions made into your SMSF bank account in June are placed into a contributions reserve account (often referred to as an unallocated contributions account), before being allocated to your member account by 28 July of the following financial year at the latest. You can then claim two years’ concessional contributions as a tax deduction in the year they are received.

Here’s how it works.

Case study

Elias is aged 60 and makes total employer and salary-sacrifice contributions to his SMSF of $27,500 in the 2023–24 financial year, using up his concessional contributions cap for the year. Then in June 2024 he makes a further personal concessional contribution of $30,000 and elects to use contributions reserving.

This means Elias must report total concessional contributions of $57,500 in his SMSF’s 2023–24 tax return and pay 15% contributions tax, or $8,625, in the same year (15% x $57,500 = $8,625). He then claims a tax deduction for the $57,500 in his 2023–24 personal tax return. He must also complete a Request to adjust concessional contributions form and send it to the ATO.

The $27,500 in employer and salary-sacrifice contributions will count towards Elias’ concessional contributions cap for the 2023–24 financial year as normal. However, the $30,000 contribution he makes in June 2024 will count towards his concessional contributions cap for the 2024–25 financial year.

This means that Elias has already used up his entire $30,000 concessional contributions cap for 2024–25.

There is also potential for high-income earners hovering around the $250,000 Division 293 tax threshold to use a contributions reserving strategy, especially where they have earnings that fluctuate significantly from year to year. Under the Division 293 rules, if your income and concessional contributions total more than $250,000 you may be liable for an additional 15% tax on your super contributions.

Take the example of Gino.

Case study

Gino owns an orchard and earns $275,000 in 2023–24 but expects a poor harvest and a big dip in his income in 2024–25 to below $220,000. Gino makes a $27,500 personal contribution to his SMSF in the 2023–24 financial year, using up his concessional contributions cap for the year. Then in June he makes a further $27,500 personal concessional contribution and allocates this second contribution to his account in July 2024.

This means Gino’s taxable income in 2023–24 is $220,000 ($275,000 – $27,500 – $27,500). As only the first concessional contribution is added to Gino’s taxable income for Division 293 purposes, he does not exceed the $250,000 threshold for 2023–24 ($220,000 + $27,500 = $247,500) and does not incur any additional 15% tax liability on his concessional contributions.

If his income falls as expected the following year, he won’t exceed the $250,000 threshold or incur additional Division 293 tax in 2024–25 either.

Note: While Gino’s strategy falls within the rules and is mentioned in articles by SMSF specialists, it is not explicitly mentioned in the ATO guidance on contributions reserving. Therefore, it would be prudent to seek professional advice or an ATO ruling before going ahead.

Dotting your i’s and crossing your t’s

As for everything to do with SMSFs, as a member and trustee you need to keep records to back up your contributions reserving activity.

For starters, your fund’s trust deed must include provisions to enable contributions reserving.

The ATO provides these examples of records you need to keep:

A resolution by trustees in year one in accordance with the SMSFs governing rules not to allocate the contribution when it is made but to accept it into a reserve
Evidence of a receipt of the contribution by the SMSF
A resolution by trustees to allocate the contribution from the reserve in year two
Documentation in relation to any deductible personal contributions (notices and acknowledgements).

Tips and traps

While contributions reserving can be a useful way to boost your super in a tax-effective manner, there are some issues to watch out for.

Non-concessional contributions

While the ATO provides clear instructions and a Request to adjust concessional contributions form for SMSFs wanting to use contributions reserving to bring forward concessional contributions, it is silent on non-concessional contributions.

That doesn’t mean you can’t use contributions reserving to bring forward next year’s non-concessional contributions cap of up to $120,000. In years gone by, this strategy may have been attractive for members aged over 67 who were planning to retire and wished to bring forward the following year’s non-concessional contributions cap to a year in which they still met the work test.

However, the removal of the work test for making non-concessional super contributions for people aged 67 to 74 may diminish the appeal or need to make use of a non-concessional reserving strategy.

The record-keeping for non-concessional contributions subject to a reserving strategy is the same as for concessional contributions, but there is an additional administrative hoop to go through.

When you complete your tax return you will need to notify the ATO that your non-concessional contributions are subject to a reserving strategy.

Total super balance

Keep an eye on your total super balance (TSB) as the size of your TSB on 30 June could impact your ability to take advantage of a number of super measures the following financial year.

For instance, your TSB is used to determine eligibility for the carry forward of unused concessional contributions cap amounts, the non-concessional contributions cap and bring forward of future non-concessional contributions cap amounts, and whether your SMSF can use the segregated method to calculate exempt current pension income.

The bottom line

A contributions reserving strategy can help SMSF trustees boost their retirement savings and bring forward a tax deduction for the following year’s concessional contributions. The benefits of a reserving strategy are less clear cut for non-concessional contributions. As the rules around record-keeping and reporting are complex, we urge trustees to seek independent professional advice.