Paying benefits and returning contributions

Age restrictions on accepting contributions

There are rules for the types of contributions you can accept for members of various ages. You must return any other contributions to the contributor within 30 days.

The following table sets out the types of contributions you can accept for members of various ages, and whether the work test is met.

Age of the member at the time of the contribution	Member meets the work test	Member does not meet the work test
64 years of age or less	All contributions can be accepted for the member.	All contributions can be accepted for the member.
65 to 69 years of age	All contributions can be accepted for the member.	You can only accept mandated employer contributions and payments from a First Home Savers Provider.
70 to 74 years of age	You can only accept: all employer contributions and personal contributions, that is contributions made by the member for up to 28 days after the end of the month in which the member turned 75.	You can only accept mandated employer contributions.
75 years of age or more	If the contribution is made more than 28 days after the end of the month in which the member turned 75 you can only accept mandated employer contributions for the member.	If the contribution is made more than 28 days after the end of the month in which the member turned 75 you can only accept mandated employer contributions for the member.

Example Bertram is aged 77 and is the only member of an SMSF. To allow his daughter and her family to take a holiday, he acts as caretaker on her cattle property for a month. His daughter pays him the going wage rate for acting as caretaker and makes an employer contribution of 9% of his earnings to his super fund's bank account. Bertram is unsure about whether he can accept the contribution, so he checks the regulation. As the contribution was not a mandated employer contribution (an employer is not required to make super guarantee contributions for an employee aged 70 or more), he determines that his fund cannot accept the contribution for him. He returns the amount to his daughter.

For more information on the age restrictions, refer to Accepting contributions.