Division 293 for state higher level office holders

If you're classified as a state higher level office holder who makes certain super contributions to a constitutionally protected fund (CPF), you're exempt from having Division 293 tax applied to those super contributions.

Who a state higher level office holder is

Under the regulations, you are a state higher level officer holder if you are:

• a minister of the government of a state
• a member of the staff of a minister of the government of a state
• the governor of a state
• a member of staff of the governor of a state
• a member of the parliament of a state
• the clerk of a house of the parliament of a state
• the head of a department of the public service of a state or a statutory office holder of equivalent seniority, including a statutory office holder who is the head of an instrumentality or agency of a state
• a judge, justice or magistrate of the court of a state.

If at any time in the income year, you fall within the category of a state higher level office holder you will be treated as being a state higher level office holder for the entire income year.

Constitutionally protected funds

Constitutionally protected funds (CPFs) are untaxed super funds that don't pay income tax on contributions or earnings they receive.

CPFs are operated by some state governments in Australia for their employees.

Under the Australian constitution, state government assets can't be taxed by the Commonwealth, so different arrangements apply to concessional contributions to CPFs.

Exempt super contributions

For state higher level office holders, generally all contributions made to a CPF, other than salary packaged contributions, are excluded from the Division 293 super contribution amount when determining the taxable contributions but included when determining whether the threshold was exceeded.

Salary packaged contributions are made because you agreed with your employer for the contribution to be made and, in return, withholding payments are reduced.