Over the last few years, everyone has been able to claim a tax deduction for personal contributions to their super fund, provided that they have been able to meet certain conditions.

First, the tax deduction cannot put you into a negative income position. A negative income position is when the expenses exceed the revenues – and superannuation funds are all about your revenue. So, for example, if you earned $20,000 for the year, you wouldn’t be able to claim more than $20,000 as a tax deduction for making personal contributions to super.   Of course, it is very rare that people will earn less than the amount they put in super but it does occasionally happen

The second requirement is that you need to lodge a Notice of Intent To Claim A Tax Deduction with your super fund. This needs to be done within a certain period of time. It needs to be first lodged with your super fund and then accepted prior to the lodgement of your income tax return.

However, there is a potential problem if you decide to roll your super over to another fund. This is because once your super has left your current fund, you are no longer able to give them a valid notice of intent. You are also unable to give that notice to the new fund, which means that you have lost the ability to claim a tax deduction for all of those contributions as a result.

Plus, you won’t simply be able to withdraw that money because you aren’t allowed to claim the tax deduction – unless you meet strict requirements, your super fund money cannot simply be taken out.

If you are in the process of making personal contributions to your superannuation, and you intend to claim a tax deduction for those contributions, you should make sure that you start a conversation with us prior to completing your tax return or touching the super that you have already contributed. It is too late to deal with it after the event, so make sure that you get a step ahead.