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R Assessable contributions

Last updated 12 February 2019

Calculate the amount at R by adding:

  • R1 Assessable employer contributions
  • R2 Assessable personal contributions, and
  • R3 No-TFN quoted contributions.

Then deduct:

  • R4 Contributions excluded by trustee
  • R5 Pre 1 July 1988 funding credits, and
  • R6 Transfer of liability to life insurance company or PST.

Do not include at R the following contributions (because they do not form part of the fund's assessable income):

  • super co-contributions made under the Superannuation (Government Co-contribution for Low Income Earners) Act 2003
  • contributions for a person under 18 that are not made by, or on behalf of, the person's employer
  • in relation to splitting a superannuation interest due to marriage or relationship breakdown, payments by a member to a regulated superannuation fund to be held for the benefit of their former spouse (sometimes referred to as 'member spouse contributions')
  • eligible spouse contributions for which the contributor cannot claim a deduction
  • a payment made directly from a First Home Saver Account (FHSA) where the holder of the FHSA is the member of the fund for whom the contribution was made, or a Government FHSA contribution
  • a contribution made by an entity that was a trustee of a complying superannuation fund, a complying ADF or a PST, or the trustee of an exempt life assurance fund, when the contribution was made.

A spouse of a member includes another person (whether of the same sex or opposite sex) who:

  • the member was in a relationship with that was registered under a prescribed state or territory law,
  • although not legally married to the member, lived with the member on a genuine domestic basis in a relationship as a couple.

Generally, the liability for tax on contributions lies with the trustee of a fund receiving the contributions. Australian superannuation funds are entitled to deduct the costs of collecting all contributions. The deductions for expenditure incurred by an Australian superannuation fund are not reduced because it received non-taxable contributions - for example, non-deductible employee contributions. However, foreign superannuation funds are only entitled to a deduction for the cost of collecting assessable contributions.

Show the deductions allowable against assessable contributions at the appropriate labels in Section C: Deductions.

Super co-contributions are not treated as assessable income of the fund. Therefore, they are not shown anywhere on the tax return.

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