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Notice of intent to claim a tax deduction

What is a Notice of Intent to Claim?
Have you made a personal super contribution you can claim?
What needs to happen so you can claim?
When to submit a Notice of Intent to Claim?
Where can I access the form?
Other things to know

If you’ve made an after-tax personal super contribution during the financial year, you may be able to claim a tax deduction. But first, you’ll need to submit a Notice of Intent to Claim and receive an acknowledgement form back.

What is a Notice of Intent to Claim?

Put simply, it’s a form that tells the ATO and your super fund you’d like to claim a tax deduction on your after-tax personal super contributions. This is done during a tax year and can be repeated each financial year.

For example, up to $30,000 of super is taxed at a rate of 15%. If you contributed to your super from your after-tax income, you probably already paid a higher tax rate than that. So you can claim the difference back as a deduction.

To be eligible to claim the difference as a tax deduction, you need to inform the ATO and your super fund of your intention to do so. You do this by submitting a Notice of Intent to Claim.

Have you made a personal super contribution you can claim?

There’s a couple of things that make up an after-tax personal super contribution you can claim.

  • It needs to be made on top of the compulsory super your employer makes on your behalf.
  • It’s not part of a salary sacrifice arrangement.

What needs to happen so you can claim?

Before you can claim a tax deduction on an after-tax personal super contribution, you need to do three things.

  1. Submit a completed Notice of Intent to Claim to your super fund within the required timeframes (see below).
  2. Enter the correct details when claiming your deduction while doing tax.
  3. Receive acknowledgement back from your fund. The acknowledgement will either be shared as an email, or a letter.

You may need to make a variation to a Notice of Intent to Claim form, depending on the letter of acknowledgement you receive back from your fund. You can find more information about the variation process on the ATOs website.

While downloading your form, it’s also a great time to check your fund details are up to date, and make sure you can access their online platform. At Rest, all of this can be done through MemberAccess.

Why make a Notice of Intent to Claim?

If you’ve made an after-tax personal super contribution to your super that isn’t part of a salary sacrifice arrangement, the government lets you make a tax deduction – so long as you meet the eligibility criteria.

When claiming, keep in mind super’s concessional contributions cap means the total super eligible for the 15% tax rate can’t exceed $30,000. 

When to submit a Notice of Intent to Claim?

You need to submit your form to your super fund on or before the earliest of these two days:

  • the day you lodge your tax return for the year in which the contributions were made
  • the last day of the income year after the income year in which you made the contributions.

To learn more, check out the ATO.

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Withdrawing or moving super funds changes how you fill out your form

Rolled over or withdrawn super? You can only claim a deduction for part of your contribution. Visit the ATO’s website to learn how you can claim a partial deduction, and avoid an invalid claim.

Where can I access the form?

To access your form through Rest, make sure you’ve set up your password and can sign in to MemberAccess. It’s also a great time to check whether your personal details are up to date.

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MemberAccess

1. Log in to MemberAccess
2. Click the banner on the homepage: ‘Want to claim your super on tax?’
3. Complete the form in 3 simple steps

Please note: you can't use this request form to vary a previous ‘notice of intent to claim’.

Log in to MemberAccess
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ATO

To vary a deduction or to download the Notice of intent to claim form:

1. Complete the Notice of intent to claim or vary a deduction for personal super contributions form from the ATO website
2. Email the completed form to contact@rest.com.au

Download form from ATO website

Other things to know

How to vary a deduction

You can vary a previous valid notice of intent if:
  • You have not yet lodged your tax return and it is on or before 30 June in the financial year following the year you made your contribution.
  • The ATO disallowed your claim for a deduction and you’re applying to reduce the amount claimed as a deduction by the amount they’ve disallowed.
How you increase and decrease your deduction is slightly different.

You can increase a deduction so long as you’re within the time limits specified above. To do this: 
  1. Fill out a second Notice of Intent to Claim form. 
  2. At question 10, ‘Is this varying an earlier notice’ in section C, place a ‘X’ in the ‘No’ box. 
  3. Only submit your form with the extra amount you want to claim and submit the form.
For example, if you wanted to claim $18,000 overall, and you requested $15,000 on your first form, you’d only put $3,000 on this one.

To reduce the amount you want to claim, you also submit a second Notice of Intent to Claim form. 
  1. Fill out a second Notice of Intent to Claim form.
  2. On question 10 of this form, ‘Is this varying an earlier notice’ in section C, place a ‘X’ in the ‘Yes’ box. 
  3. Enter the correct amount you wish to claim and submit the form.
Because this form replaces the original notice, you simply place the correct amount you wish to deduct. If it’s $18,000 overall, you put $18,000 on the form.

What is the ‘Work test’ and am I exempt?

You can contribute to your super until you turn 75 years old. But to be able to claim a tax deduction, you need to pass the ‘work test’ if you’re between the ages of 67 and 75.

To pass the work test, you need to be able to show that you’ve done paid work for at least 40 hours during a consecutive 30-day period. This work must have been performed during the financial year you’re claiming the tax concession. 

There is an exemption that you can use for work test on a one-off basis. You’re eligible for this exemption if you have:
  • satisfied the work test in the income year preceding the year in which you made the contribution
  • a total super balance of less than $300,000 at the end of the previous income year
  • not relied on the work test exemption in a previous financial year.
See Restrictions on voluntary contributions for more information.

Keep in mind contribution limits also still apply.

There are a couple of age limits

You have until 28 days after the end of the month of your 75th birthday to be eligible to claim a tax deduction for a personal super contribution.

Alternatively, if you’re under 18 at the end of the income year in which you make a personal contribution, you must have been either employed or been running a business to be eligible to claim deduction for your contribution.

Tax on personal contributions

Any money your super earns from your contributions are generally:
  • taxed at 15% if you’re in the accumulation phase; and
  • not taxed if you’re in the retirement phase. If your super balance exceeds the transfer balance cap, the excess will be taxed.
Just remember, there are contribution caps and going over them could mean paying additional taxes on contributions.

When you reach the age of 60 and take out your contributions (and any earnings as a benefit), you don’t have to pay any tax on it. Before age 60, tax generally applies at concessional rates.
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