If you haven’t already done so, you should start thinking about super as a team effort. After all, the future you’re planning for probably includes another person.
There are two different strategies you can use to build your super together.
1. Spouse contributions
If your spouse earns less than $13,800 or is not in paid employment, then making spouse contributions could enable you to:
- qualify for a tax rebate of up to $540
- increase the amount of retirement income that you and your partner can build tax free.
Criteria for spouse contributions
A contributing spouse can make contributions to HOSTPLUS Executive for their partner (married or de facto, including same sex couples) as long as they are living together or have a relationship registered on the Register of Births and Marriages under State or Territory law and are both Australian residents.
A de facto spouse is one who lives with the tax payer on a genuine domestic basis as the partner of the tax payer.
You cannot make spouse contributions if you are your spouse's employer.
The receiving spouse must be under 70 years of age. If the receiving spouse is between age 65 and 70, they must work at least 40 hours in 30 consecutive days during the financial year the contribution is made. If under age 65, they do not need to work.
Making spouse contributions
Download our Spouse Contributions Brochure.
If you are a HOSTPLUS Executive member and you would like to make contributions for your spouse who isn’t a HOSTPLUS Executive member, then they will need to join the Personal Super Plan by completing the application form at the back of the Member guide.
Contributions are made to the member’s account. If you are the receiving spouse, then your spouse doesn’t have to be a HOSTPLUS Executive member to contribute to your HOSTPLUS Executive account. Contributions can be made via cheque at any time by submitting them with a contribution slip.
2. Super splitting
HOSTPLUS Executive also offers you the option of super contributions splitting. You can choose to split eligible funds with your spouse (married or de facto) at the end of each financial year. Super splitting can be used to increase the super of a spouse with low or no income. Or to give you access to your super earlier if one spouse is older than the other.
How your super can be split
Only concessional contributions – employer contributions, salary sacrifice and deductible contributions made by the self employed – are eligible for super splitting.
You can split up to 85% of these concessional contributions. You cannot split:
- personal after tax contributions
- amounts rolled over or transferred from another fund
- amounts subject to a family law payment split.
Splitting your super with your spouse
To split your super with your spouse, simply submit your contribution splitting advice by 31 May for the previous financial year’s contributions. Split funds will be allocated once a year and a $60 administration fee will be payable by the splitting member for each transaction which will be deducted from the member’s account, which must be a HOSTPLUS account.
Contact us on 1300 799 998 to get started.