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J Australian superannuation fund

Last updated 28 July 2020

For the fund to be a complying superannuation fund it must be an 'Australian superannuation fund'.

A fund is an Australian superannuation fund if it satisfies all three of the following tests:

  • the fund was established in Australia, or at least one of the fund's assets is located in Australia.
  • the central management and control of the fund is ordinarily in Australia
  • either of the following
    • the fund has no active members, or
    • it has active members who are Australian residents and who hold at least 50% of:
      • the total market value of the fund's assets attributable to super interests held by active members, or
      • the sum of the amounts that would be payable to or in respect of active members if they voluntarily ceased to be members.
       
     

Provided the fund satisfies these tests at the same time at any point in the income year then, for income tax purposes, it is an Australian superannuation fund for the entire income year.

A member is considered to be an active member of a fund if:

  • they are a contributor to the fund, or
  • contributions were made to the fund on their behalf.

However, a member on whose behalf contributions were made to the fund is not an active member if:

  • they are not a resident of Australia and
  • they have ceased to be a contributor and
  • the only contributions that were made on their behalf after they ceased to be an Australian resident were made in relation to the time they were an Australian resident.

The central management and control of a fund is ordinarily in Australia if the fund's strategic and high level decisions are regularly made in Australia. These decisions are generally made by the trustees of the fund.

The fund will continue to meet the central management and control requirement in cases where the fund's central management and control is temporarily outside Australia. However, if the central management and control of the fund is permanently outside Australia, it will not meet this requirement.

In general, provided all other aspects of the definition are satisfied, the fund continues to be an Australian superannuation fund where its central management and control is temporarily outside Australia for up to two years.

Print X in the No box at A if the fund does not meet the above definition of Australian superannuation fund at a particular time during the income year. The fund will lose its complying superannuation fund status, and a tax rate of 45% will apply to the fund's assessable income for the income year.

For more information on the definition of an 'Australian superannuation fund', see Taxation Ruling TR 2008/9 - Income tax: meaning of 'Australian superannuation fund' in subsection 295-95(2) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.

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