Turn up your super …
… with some money from the government
If you put some of your own money into your super, you could get a top-up from the government.
If you’re eligible, and you put some of your own after-tax money into your super, the government could match it by up to $500*.
How much can you get? 2012/13 financial year (proposed)
Jenny’s story
Jenny is an eligible person with a total annual income* of $30,000. She puts an extra $1,000 into her super. The government matches 50% of it. So that’s a bonus $500 for Jenny, and her UniSuper account balance goes up by $1,500.
In the May 2012 Federal Budget, the government announced that the matching rate of the co-contribution would be 50% instead of 100%, however they have yet to legislate the change.
Under the proposal the government will provide a co-contribution of up to $500 to match up to $1,000 of personal after-tax contributions made by people with incomes of up to $31,920 (with the amount phasing down for incomes up to $46,920).
To give you an idea of how much of a top-up you may be entitled to (based on income thresholds) take a look at the table below.
| Total income* amount# |
Your contribution |
The government’s co-contribution |
| Up to $31,920 |
$1000 |
$500 |
| $35,000 |
$794 |
$397 |
| $40,000 |
$460 |
$230 |
| $45,000 |
$128 |
$64 |
| $46,920 or more |
$0 |
$0 |
*Total income is the sum of your assessable income, your reportable fringe benefits and the total of your reportable employer contributions for the income year, less your allowable business deductions. Your total income for the 2012/13 financial year must be between $31,920 and $46,920.
#The maximum co-contribution is payable only if an equivalent or greater voluntary member (after-tax) contribution is made.
Are you eligible?
The first thing you need to do to make sure you’re eligible.
To see if you could be eligible, answer a few questions. If you can answer yes to all of these, chances are you’re eligible for a payment from the government:
- Did you lodge an income tax return for this last financial year?
- Is your total income less than $46,920 for the 2012/13 financial year? This includes assessable income, reportable fringe benefits and reportable employer super contributions.
- If yes, is at least 10% of this from eligible employment-related activities and/or carrying on a business?
- During this financial year, have you made any eligible personal super contributions and not claimed a deduction for all of it? Take a look at what the government counts as an eligible personal super contribution.
- Do we have your tax file number?
- At the end of the financial year, will you be aged below 71 years?
- Are you an Australian permanent resident, a New Zealand citizen, or the holder of a prescribed visa?
- Did you make an eligible voluntary member contribution into your account? Take a look at our Lump sum voluntary member contribution form to see.
If you want to know more about eligibility, take a look at the
ATO website.
How to claim the government co-contribution
You don’t even have to do anything to claim the government co-contribution. If you’ve made an after-tax super contribution during the financial year, the government will take a look at your tax return and assess whether you qualify.
Take a look at the ATO website for more on receiving the co-contribution.
It’s easy to make contributions
Take a look at how to make an after-tax contribution into your super:
UniSuper Helpline 1800 331 685
UniSuper Advice 1300 331 685