Spouse contributions

You can make super contributions on behalf of your spouse (married or de facto) under Australian legislation, provided you meet eligibility criteria and your super fund allows it. This is known as contribution splitting. Doing this not only helps to boost your spouse’s retirement savings, it can also help you save tax if your spouse has limited income. If your spouse’s income is below $37,000, you’ll receive a tax offset of up top $540 for any contribution you make on their behalf up to $3,000. The offset progressively reduces between $37,000 and $40,000, where it cuts off completely.

To be eligible to split your contributions with your spouse, your spouse must either be:

• under their preservation age, or
• aged between their preservation age and 65, and not retired.

You spouse’s preservation age will be between the ages of 55 and 60, depending on their date of birth.

In addition, you must both be Australian residents and not living separately on a permanent basis. You are limited to splitting up to your concessional contributions cap in any financial year (unless you’re eligible to use the carry-forward rule to split additional amounts).