Eligible contributions
Under the FHSS scheme you can only access eligible contributions that have been made on or after 1 July 2017. These include:
- Voluntary concessional contributions (pre-tax), including salary sacrifice amounts or personal contributions you have claimed or intend to claim a tax deduction for. These are taxed at 15% in your fund.
- Voluntary non-concessional contributions (post tax), including personal after-tax contributions you haven't claimed a tax deduction for. These are not taxed in your super fund.
- Certain KiwiSaver and other transfer amounts from foreign super funds. For more information, see GN 2024/1 First home super saver scheme. An eligible KiwiSaver amount must be included in your FHSS determination request as a single personal voluntary (after tax) contribution, with details of the date it was credited to your Australian super fund account. You can't split this contribution over different financial years.
Using the FHSS scheme, you can contribute a maximum of $15,000 in any one financial year up to a total maximum of $50,000 across all years. To determine how much of the annual limit ($15,000) and overall year limit ($50,000) you have used, you need to assess all voluntary contributions in full, regardless of whether they are concessional or non-concessional.
Contributions you make for FHSS purposes are not accounted for separately in your super account(s). You are not required to withdraw them to purchase a home if your circumstances change.
If you don’t release contributions under the FHSS scheme, they remain part of your super interest until you meet another condition of release (for example, retirement).
Ineligible contributions
The following contributions are not eligible for release under the FHSS scheme:
- contributions made before 1 July 2017
- super guarantee (SG) contributions made by your employer
- contributions to defined benefit interests or constitutionally protected funds – note: rolling over contributions from these types of account/funds to an accumulation plan account does not make those contributions eligible for the scheme
- mandated employer or member contributions made for you under an award or industrial agreement
- member contributions made for you by your spouse, parent or other friends or family
- amounts you receive under a contributions-splitting arrangement
- government co-contributions
- contributions under a structured settlement or personal injury order
- amounts contributed to super as part of the small business CGT concessions
- amounts transferred from a KiwiSaver scheme that are Australian-sourced amounts or returning New Zealand-sourced amounts
- applicable fund earnings from a foreign fund transfer you elect to include in the receiving fund's assessable income
- contributions that are mandatory under a state or territory law or the rules of a fund
- contributions that exceed the legislated contributions caps – these are not eligible once they exceed the legislated contribution caps, even if they would otherwise be eligible
- COVID-19 early release of superannuation re-contributions.
If there are any of these amounts in your request for a FHSS determination, your request may be delayed or cancelled.
You can check your eligible contributions with your super fund(s) at any time to see how much you have saved. This will help you keep track of the maximum FHSS amount you can have released.
Example: eligible contributions
Anh is required to contribute a minimum of 2% of his after-tax salary under his award to his accumulation interest. Anh also elects to contribute a total of 5% of his after-tax salary.
Anh's employer is required under the award to match his after-tax contributions by making additional contributions above the super guarantee rate.
The amount equal to 2% of his after-tax salary that Anh is required to contribute does not form part of eligible contributions, as his award requires it. However, the extra contributions beyond that required minimum amount, equal to 3% of his after-tax salary, are considered 'voluntary' member contributions and form part of eligible contributions for the FHSS scheme.
Anh will need to work out the total amount of extra voluntary member contributions, that are eligible contributions for the FHSS scheme. If he can’t, he may need to check with his employer. When he applies for an FHSS determination, Anh should ensure that the contributions equivalent to the 3% after-tax salary are included. If requested, he will need to provide this additional information to verify his eligible contributions.
The extra contributions Anh's employer makes above the super guarantee rate are not eligible contributions, as they are also required by the award.
Example: amounts transferred from a KiwiSaver scheme
Mei returns to Australia in June 2024 after several years working in New Zealand. At that time, she transfers her retirement savings of $18,000 from her KiwiSaver scheme to her Australian super fund. No part of this balance had previously been transferred to New Zealand from her Australian super fund.
Although Mei made KiwiSaver contributions over several years, for FHSS purposes the ATO treats her transfer as a single contribution of $18,000 in the 2023–24 financial year.
Because of the annual contribution limit, only $15,000 of the KiwiSaver amount will count as eligible FHSS contributions.
End of exampleStudy and training support loans
If you make salary sacrifice contributions into super, they will be a reportable employer super contribution in that income year. These contributions are included in your repayment income for study and training support loans.
Study and training support loans include:
- Higher Education Loan Program (HELP)
- Student Start-up Loan (SSL) and ABSTUDY SSL schemes
- Australian Apprenticeship Support Loan (AASL) previously known as Trade Support Loan (TSL)
- Student Financial Supplement Scheme (SFSS).
You will need to review your pay as you go (PAYG) withholding arrangements with your employer, so the tax they withhold from your salary and wages during the year is enough to cover the amount you're liable to pay.
When you withdraw contributions under the FHSS scheme they are not part of your repayment income in the year you request the withdrawal.