If you have a ‘super gap’ due to time off work while caring for family, your partner can split their pre-tax contributions with you. It’s a tax-effective way to balance a more secure financial future together. And it works both ways – you can contribute to their super later.
There are two ways to increase your spouse’s super:
- Personal spouse contributions: paid directly to your spouse’s account as non-concessional contributions
- Contribution splitting: you can split your concessional (before tax) contributions with your spouse.
How do personal spouse contributions work?
If your partner contributes up to $3,000 to your super from their after-tax income, they can receive a tax offset of up to $540 – as long as you earn less than $40,000 p.a.
| Receiving spouse’s relevant income (RI) | Maximum rebatable contributions (MRC) | Maximum offset (18% of lesser of) |
|---|---|---|
| $0 – $37,000 | $3,000 | MRC or total spouse contributions |
| $37,000 – $40,000 | $3,000 – (RI – $37,000) | MRC or total spouse contributions |
| $40,000+ | Nil | Nil |
- Tax offset of 18% on up to $3,000 in spouse contributions
- Maximum offset available to the contributor is $540
- Relevant income (RI is assessable income + reportable fringe benefits total + reportable employer super contributions
- An eligible spouse must be under age 70. If aged 65 to 69, they must be gainfully employed at least 40 hours in a period of not more than 30 consecutive days in that financial year.
How does contribution splitting work?
Pre-tax contributions can also be split, including a salary sacrifice arrangement. When you ‘split’ super contributions, money is transferred from your partner’s super account into your account or vice versa.