Reach your retirement goals, together

Are you thinking about taking some time away from work? Maybe you’re looking to raise a family, or simply looking for a long-term career break. If you choose to do this, it could have an impact on your retirement savings.

The good news is, by receiving spouse contributions from your partner, you can keep growing your super even while on a break from work.

There’s two easy ways to do this:

1. receive regular, after-tax contributions

2. or have your partner split their before-tax super contributions with you

Your spouse may also be eligible for a tax offset for these contributions – more on that later!

After-tax spouse super contributions

Setting up an after-tax super contribution from your spouse to your super account, is easy.

All you need is your super account BPAY® details for spouse contributions, which you can get by logging into your account.

Step 1: Log into your account and get your spouse contributions BPAY® details

Step 2: Have your spouse make a one-off or regular payment to your super account from a bank account

Spouse super tax offset

It’s worth mentioning, if you earn less than $40,000 per year, your spouse could be eligible for a tax offset of up to $540 on the first $3,000 of after-tax contributions they pay into your super. Savings all round!

To claim the tax offset, you need to make sure that your partner’s super account has their tax file number (TFN). Then, when they lodge their tax return, they simply need to add in the details of the super contributions they made on your behalf.

Of course, there are a couple of eligibility requirements for the tax offset that you should be aware of:

• the receiver of the spouse contribution must earn less than $40,000 per year

• you must live together in Australia

For the full eligibility requirements, head to the ATO website.

Splitting before-tax super contributions

Another way you can grow your super when you're not working is by splitting your partner’s before-tax super contributions. They could split up to 85% of their before-tax contributions and pay them into your super account instead of theirs.

To do this, the receiver must be under 65, or under your preservation age and not already retired.

Eligible before-tax contributions include:

• employer contributions

• salary sacrifice contributions

• any contributions that you’ve claimed a tax deduction on

You and your spouse can choose to split employer Superannuation Guarantee (SG) contributions and pre-tax (salary sacrifice) contributions. You can split any amount less the 15% contributions tax payable, so effectively you can split up to 85% of these gross contributions.

To split your super contributions with your partner, just download the Super Contribution Splitting Form and return it to us. If you’re the receiver and your partner wants to split their super contributions with you, they will need to use the form of the super fund that they’re with.

Things to consider before making spouse contributions

Before making a contribution, there are a few things you need to know.

• You need to be married or in a de facto relationship with your partner to make super contributions on their behalf. You must also both be Australian residents.

• If you’re making after-tax contributions, the receiver needs to be under 75 to be eligible to receive spouse contributions.

• Check whether the person receiving the funds has reached their contribution caps, as exceeding these caps can result in additional tax. You can check your contribution caps by logging into your account.

Another thing to consider is that once the money is in your super account, you may not be able to access it until you retire. Therefore, it's important to think about yours and your partner's individual objectives, financial situation and needs before making these contributions, and consider speaking with a smartCoach or financial adviser.