How super is taxed

Your super scheme is either taxed or untaxed. Tax still applies to both types, but the tax is deducted at different stages:

• Taxed super funds - deduct tax when money gets added to the fund and earns investment returns
• Untaxed super funds - only pay tax when money is taken out

Our taxed schemes are GESB Super, Retirement Income Pension, and RI Term Allocated Pension, and our untaxed schemes are West State Super and Gold State Super.

How will your contributions be taxed?

The way your contributions are taxed depends on whether you have a taxed or untaxed fund, and if the contributions are made from before-tax or after-tax income.

Let’s look at before-tax contributions first.

Before-tax contributions

Before-tax contributions are also known as concessional contributions. These are payments made to your super from your income before you have paid tax. Examples include:

• Employer contributions, like Super Guarantee
• Salary sacrifice
• Contributions for which you have claimed a tax deduction, if you are eligible

There are different rules for concessional contributions for taxed and untaxed funds.

Your concessional contributions cap

If you’re a GESB Super member, you have a taxed scheme so this cap applies for the 2023/24 financial year:

• $27,500 per year

If you make contributions to super over your cap, you might need to pay extra tax.

Carry forward concessional contributions

From 1 July 2019, the carry-forward rules allow you to make extra concessional contributions above the general concessional contributions cap. This means:

• If you have a total super balance of less than $500,000 on 30 June of the previous year, you can ‘carry forward’ any unused concessional cap amounts from 1 July 2018
• Unused cap amounts that have not been used after five years will expire

For example, the general concessional contributions cap in the 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21 financial years was $25,000. It was $27,500 for 2021/22 and 2022/23 financial years. If you made $15,000 of concessional contributions in each of 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23 you will have $55,000 of unused concessional contributions cap amounts carried forward that you can use to make additional concessional contributions above the general concessional contributions cap for the 2023/24 financial year, provided your total super balance at the end of 30 June 2023 was less than $500,000. The 2018/19 unused cap amount of $10,000 that is not used by the end of 2023/24 will expire.

Benefit estimate

For a breakdown of the taxed and untaxed components of your account, call your Member Services Centre on 13 43 72 or use Live chat and ask for a ‘benefit estimate’.

After-tax contributions

After-tax contributions are also called non-concessional contributions. These are contributions you make to your super from your income after you’ve already paid tax, such as personal contributions or spouse contributions.

Since you’ve already paid tax on your income, there is no further tax for contributions you make to your super in this way.

Your non-concessional contributions cap

If you’re a GESB Super or West State Super member, your non-concessional contribution cap for the 2023/24 financial year is:

• $110,000 per year
• If you’re under 75 at any time in the financial year, you may be able to bring forward one or two years of contributions i.e. $110,000 plus $220,000, giving you a cap of $330,000 over three years¹

The amount available under the bring-forward rule depends on your total super balance as at 30 June in the previous financial year.

Other contributions

If you transfer super from other funds, a 15% tax is applied to the untaxed element³ and no tax on the taxed element.

If you’ve received a Commonwealth Government Super Co-contribution in the past, no tax applies to these contributions.

Learn more about how your super is taxed

Read our Tax and super brochure for more details on how your super is taxed, including:

• Tax that applies to investment earnings
• Tax on benefits including lump-sum benefits and death benefits
• Other considerations including Division 293 tax for high income earners

Read Tax and super

1 The amount available under the bring-forward rule depends on your total super balance as at 30 June in the previous financial year. Where the bring-forward rule has been triggered, the future years' entitlements are not indexed and the contributions must be made before you turn 75 or within the 28 days following the end of the month in which you turn 75 years old. For more information, please read the Contributing to your super brochure.
2 For the 2023/24 financial year, indexed annually in line with Average Weekly Ordinary Time Earnings, in increments of $5,000 rounded down. The untaxed plan cap applies for each untaxed scheme you are a member of.
3 Up to the untaxed plan cap of $1.705 million for the 2023/24 financial year.