Contributions and Withdrawals
The following provides an overview of the ways in which you can contribute to the Salaam Wealth Superannuation Fund.
This section outlines the types of contributions you can make to the Fund, eligibility rules for making the contributions and the taxation limits that apply.
Contributions
The following table summarises the key features of different types of contributions and how and when you can make them to the Fund. There may be taxation benefits for you in making voluntary contributions, depending on your circumstances. When making contributions, also consider the tax implications. See the ‘Contributions tax’ information below.
| Type |
Features |
How and when |
| Employer contributions: • Superannuation Guarantee Contributions • Salary Sacrifice • Award Contributions |
Contributions made by your employer are generally tax deductible by your employer and are therefore treated as concessional contributions. | Once you have established an account within the Fund, your employer can make employer contributions to your account using a ‘SuperStream’ compliant mechanism. Mandatory employer contributions (such as Superannuation Guarantee Contributions and Award contributions) can be made for you at any age. Voluntary employer contributions (including salary sacrifice contributions) can only be made for you while you are under age 75. |
| Voluntary Member Contributions (other than Member Deductible Contributions and Downsizer Contributions) | You can make additional contributions into your superannuation account which are not tax deductible. These are treated as non-concessional contributions. | Once you have established an account within the Fund, you may contribute by BPAY, direct debit, cheque or money order by mail. You must be under age 75 to make voluntary member contributions. |
| Member Deductible Contributions |
You can make additional contributions into your superannuation account for which you can claim a tax deduction, provided meet the ATO’s you eligibility conditions. Go to www.ato.gov.au for more details. Member deductible contributions are treated as concessional contributions. |
Once you have established an account within the Fund, you may contribute by BPAY, direct debit, cheque or money order by mail. You must tell the Fund if you are intending to claim any of your contributions as deductions by completing a Notice of intention to claim a tax deduction form. The Fund must acknowledge the notice for it to be effective. The Fund may not be able to provide an acknowledgement in certain circumstances. You must be under age 75 and, for contributions made from age 67 to 74 you must also meet a work test (unless the work test exemption applies). |
| Government Contributions |
If your eligible income in a financial year is less than the prescribed income threshold for the year ($58,445 for 2023-24) You should go to www.ato.gov.au for more information about eligibility conditions (including the income thresholds from year to year). |
In order to receive the co- contribution, you must make a voluntary (concessional) contribution before 30 June each financial year. If you are eligible for this offset, and the super fund into which eligible concessional contributions were made has your tax file number, the ATO will pay the offset to your super fund account automatically. |
| Downsizer contribution | You may be able to contribute up to $300,000 ($600,000 for a couple) from the proceeds of the sale (or part sale) of your residential home into the Fund. Downsizer contributions are non-concessional contributions but don’t count towards your non-concessional contributions cap and will not affect your total superannuation balance until it is re-calculated at the end of the financial year in which the contribution is made. Eligibility conditions apply including that the home was owned by your or your spouse for 10 years before the sale. You should go to www.ato.gov.au for more information about eligibility conditions. |
You must provide the Fund with a Downsizer contribution into super form available from www.ato.gov.au either before or at the time you make your downsizer contribution. |
| Spouse Contribution |
Your spouse can make a contribution for you (or vice versa). |
Once you (and/or your spouse) have established an account within the Fund, a contribution to the Fund can be made for your spouse by BPAY, direct debit, cheque or money order by mail. |
Notes to table:
- We can only accept member contributions in the Fund if the Fund is holds your TFN and any applicable age and work requirements are satisfied. Age limits apply to voluntary employer and voluntary member contributions. Work test requirements apply if you wish to claim a tax deduction for your personal member contributions.
- If you are aged 67 to 74, to claim a tax deduction for personal contributions you make, you must generally satisfy a work test where you have been gainfully employed (either employed or self- employed) on at least a part-time basis for at least 40 hours over a consecutive 30 day period during the financial year in which the contributions are made. However, you may be able make personal contributions for an extra 12 months from the end of the financial year in which you last met the work test under a work test exemption, if your total superannuation balance is less than $300,000 at the end of the previous financial year and you have not previously used the work test exemption.
- Contributions payable up to age 74 may be received by the Fund within 28 days after the month in which a member turns age 75.
- There are other amounts that can be paid into a super fund including certain disablement amounts on settlement of a disability claim (outside of suer) and the proceeds from the sale of a small business. Special rules apply and you should obtain advice as there may be tax implications.
- Before making personal contributions and/or salary sacrifice contributions you should consider your own personal circumstances and individual tax implications. It may be prudent to obtain personal taxation advice, particularly in relation to large contributions (such as a downsizer contribution).
This contributions taxation information is a summary only and is subject to change from year to year, so you should check the latest information available from www.ato.gov.au.
If the Fund does not hold your tax file number it cannot accept all types of permissible contributions for you and higher tax will apply to concessional contributions. Refer to the Salaam Wealth Super Fund Product Disclosure Statement for more information about providing your tax file number to the Fund.
Contributions made from your pre-tax income by your employer (for example, compulsory employer or superannuation guarantee contributions and salary sacrifice contributions) are concessional contributions and can be a tax-effective way to add to your super.
Contributions you make for which you successfully claim as a tax deduction are also concessional contributions.
Concessional contributions are considered assessable income of the Fund, and are generally subject to tax payable by the Fund at a rate of up to 15%.
If your annual taxable income (including superannuation contributions made by your employer on your behalf) exceeds $250,000 p.a., your concessional contributions may be taxed at the rate of 30%. Higher tax (payable by the Fund) applies if the Fund does not hold your tax file number.
For the 2023-2024 financial year, the limit (‘cap’) for concessional contributions is generally $27,500 per person. The cap applies to all concessional contributions made for, or by, you across all superannuation funds you participate in and is subject to indexation. You can find out the concessional contributions cap for future years from www.ato.gov.au.
If you have unused concessional cap amounts from previous years, you may be able to carry them forward to increase your contribution caps in later years. You're eligible to do this if you:
- have a total super balance of less than $500,000 at 30 June of the previous financial year
- have unused concessional contributions cap amounts from up to 5 previous years (but not before 2018–19).
The unused cap amounts you can carry forward depends on the amount you have contributed in previous years, starting from 2018–19.
You can carry forward unused cap amounts from up to 5 previous financial years, including when you were not a member of a super fund. The oldest available unused cap amounts are carried forward first. For example, unused cap amounts from 2018–19 would be used to increase your cap first before unused cap amounts from 2019–20.
Unused cap amounts are available for 5 years and expire after this. For example, a 2018–19 unused cap amount that is not used by the end of 2023–24 will expire.
Any contribution in excess of the concessional cap applicable to you in a financial year will attract additional tax. This excess contribution (if retained in the Fund) will also be considered non-concessional and will count towards the non-concessional contributions cap for the same financial year.
For information about the treatment of excess concessional contributions, go to ato.gov.au.
A Non-concessional contribution is a contribution made by you, or on your behalf (for example by your spouse), usually from money that has already been taxed, for which you cannot or have not claimed a tax deduction.
Non-concessional contributions are not usually subject to tax payable by the Fund, unless they exceed the Non-concessional contributions cap.
The amount of Non-concessional contributions that can be made in a financial year (across all funds you participate in) is generally capped at $110,000 (equal to four times the concessional contributions cap). This cap is subject to change (if the cap on concessional contributions changes). You can find out the non-concessional contributions cap for future years from www.ato.gov.au
However, in some circumstances, your non-concessional contribution cap for a financial year may be different.
If your total superannuation balance is equal to or greater than the general transfer balance cap at the end of the previous financial year, your non-concessional contributions cap will be Nil and you cannot make non-concessional contributions without incurring extra tax. The general transfer balance cap for the 2023-24 financial year is $1.9 million and is subject to change from year to year.
You may be able to bring forward future allowable non-concessional contributions (up to $330,000 over 3 years), so that they are contributed in a single year. The amount you can bring forward depends on when you first make contributions greater than the annual non-concessional contributions cap, and your total superannuation balance at the end of the previous financial year. For more information go to www.ato.gov.au.
Withdrawals
The following provides an overview of the ways in which you can withdraw from the Salaam Wealth Superannuation Fund and summarises associated taxation rules.
Superannuation is a savings scheme for your retirement and the Australian Government restricts when you can access your super.
When Can You Withdraw From the Fund?
Your superannuation savings, also known as superannuation benefits, are classified into three types of benefits: preserved, restricted non-preserved, and unrestricted non-preserved. The classifications determine when your superannuation may be paid to you. The classifications applicable to your account in the Fund is shown in annual statements.
Otherwise, you can withdraw your benefit from the Fund at any time, but it must be paid (rolled over) to another eligible entity, such as a regulated superannuation fund or a retirement savings account.
Preserved Benefits
All new contributions and any investment earnings on your superannuation account in the Fund are classified as “preserved.” If you are an Australian or New Zealand citizen or Australian resident, preserved benefits are able to be accessed if one of the following age based conditions of release is satisfied:
• When you reach to age of 65;
• When you cease an employment arrangement on or after age 60;
• When you retire from the workforce on or after your preservation age as detailed in the table below:
When can I access my super early?
There are other circumstances where you can access your super early, provided another condition of release is satisfied. These circumstances include:
- suffering permanent incapacity (as defined in superannuation legislation);
- having a terminal medical condition (as defined in superannuation legislative) certified by two registered medical practitioners;
- your benefit is less than $200 and you have terminated an employment arrangement;
- on your death (benefits are paid to your dependant(s) or legal personal representative);
- severe financial hardship grounds (subject to government rules and Trustee approval). Conditions and limits apply;
- compassionate grounds (subject to approval by the ATO). Conditions and limits apply;
- where we receive a release authority from the ATO to pay tax on excess contributions;
- where contributions are released for the purchase of a first home (under the ‘First Home Saver Super Scheme’). Conditions and limits apply. Refer to www.ato.gov.au for details.
Other withdrawals
Withdrawals may be made in other circumstances, where required by law. For example, a superannuation trustee must transfer certain super account balances to the ATO under federal government (unclaimed money) legislation.
Superannuation trustees must report and pay amount that meet relevant criteria in the government’s legislation twice yearly, when required by the ATO. This can occur even if you are contactable.
Temporary residents
Temporary residents are subject to special rules which include being able to access their super on permanently departing Australia.
If you are not a citizen of Australia or New Zealand and hold a temporary resident visa in Australia, you may request payment of your benefit when you permanently leave Australia. Such benefit payments are subject to a different rate of tax.
You can make a claim within 6 months after leaving Australia. If you do not claim your benefit within this time, your benefit is required to be transferred in full to the ATO as unclaimed monies. Once your benefit is transferred to the ATO, you are no longer a member of the Fund. You can still claim your benefit after it has been transferred to the ATO, but you must make the application to the ATO. Benefits transferred to the ATO do not earn any interest or other investment income.