You can claim a full tax deduction on most superannuation contributions.

What tax deductions can you claim?

You can usually claim a full deduction for all superannuation contributions (including salary sacrifice contributions) on behalf of employees who are under the age of 70.

You can also claim a tax deduction for superannuation contributions you make for employees aged 70 and over, if:

• you make the contribution with 28 days after the end of the month in which your employee turns 70
• you have to make the contribution because your employee is employed under an industrial award, determination or notional agreement preserving state awards.

Employer SG contributions made after the due date and used to offset an SG charge liability are not deductible.

Tax File Numbers - what should I know?

Providing your employees' Tax File Numbers (TFNs) is very important. If your employee completes a TFN declaration and you don’t pass on their TFN, you’re not meeting your obligations and:

• you may be liable to pay a penalty
• your employees may have to pay extra tax on the contributions
• your employee may miss out on Government Co-Contribution payments.

Do you need to pass on TFNs for existing employees?

If one of your existing employees has not provided a TFN declaration since 1 July 2007 but has given you permission to pass on their TFN to us, you must pass it on by the next time you make a superannuation contribution on their behalf.

What happens if you don’t pass on their TFN?

It’s an offence not to provide an employee’s TFN to their fund within the required timeframe. There are penalties issued to those employers who withhold this information. The ATO checks that employers are passing on TFNs to superannuation funds where required.

You have up to 14 days from receiving the TFN to pass it on to us unless the employee’s TFN is provided to you more than 14 days before you contribute to their fund (in which case the TFN must be passed on to the fund when you contribute). Generally, employers quote an employee’s TFN when they first make a superannuation contribution for them (or, in the case of existing members, when they next make a superannuation contribution for them after receiving their permission to pass on the TFN).

Your TFN responsibilities include:

• respect the privacy of employees who quote their TFN
• accept, properly store and use TFNs from your employee
• providing them when you next make a contribution to Health Super.