Superannuation changes from 1st July 2017

ARE YOU MAKING CONTRIBUTIONS

The concessional contributions cap is $25,000 for everyone. Previously, it was $35,000 for people 49 years and older at the end of the previous financial year and $30,000 for everyone else.

The annual non-concessional contribution cap will be reduced from $180,000 to $100,000 per year. This will remain available to individuals aged between 65 and 74 years old if they meet the work test.

Your non-concessional cap will be nil for a financial year if you have a total superannuation balance greater than or equal to the general transfer balance cap ($1.6 million in 2017–18) at the end of 30 June of the previous financial year. In this case, if you make non-concessional contributions in that year, they will be excess non-concessional contributions.

If you are under 65 years, you may make non-concessional contributions of up to three times the annual non-concessional contributions cap in a single year by bringing forward your non-concessional contributions cap for a two- or three-year period.
In 2016–17, an individual (mainly those who are self-employed) can claim a deduction for personal super contributions where they meet certain conditions. One of these conditions is that less than 10% of their income is from salary and wages. This is known as the 10% maximum earnings condition.

From 1 July 2017, the 10% maximum earnings condition will be removed. This means most people under 75 years old will be able to claim a tax deduction for personal super contributions (including those aged 65 to 74 who meet the work test).

ARE YOU APPROACHING RETIREMENT

The government will remove the tax-exempt status of earnings from assets that support a transition to retirement income stream (TRIS). Earnings from assets supporting a TRIS will be taxed at 15% regardless of the date the TRIS commenced.

ARE YOU RETIRED

There is a limit on how much of your super you can transfer from your accumulation super account(s) to tax-free ‘retirement phase’ account(s) to receive your pension income.
This limit is known as the ‘transfer balance cap’. The cap relates to the amount you transfer and hold in retirement phase accounts. There is no limit on the amount of money you can have in your accumulation super account(s).
The transfer balance cap will start at $1.6 million, and will be indexed in line with the consumer price index (CPI), rounded down to the nearest $100,000.

DO YOU EARN MORE THAN $250,000
Currently, individuals with income and concessional super contributions greater than $300,000 will trigger a Division 293 assessment.
From 1 July 2017, the government will lower the Division 293 income threshold to $250,000. An individual with income, and concessional super contributions, exceeding the $250,000 threshold will have an additional 15% tax imposed on the lesser of:
•    the excess, or
•    the concessional contributions (except excess contributions).