Matthew Richardson, SMSF manager for Accurium, said on a recent webinar that it is possible to take into account unused concessional contributions when implementing strategies for new Australian residents.
Richardson gave the example of someone who moved to Australia in 2025. They are 63 in 2026 and expect a taxable income of $235,000.
“The question is, what’s their cap in this year? They are a new resident to Australia. What does that mean?” he said.
“In fact, even though they are a new resident, they still can look at using those five prior years if they have any unused cap space. Even if they weren’t a resident in Australia until 2025 you can still take into account those unused concessional contributions.
“In this scenario, they would have $147,500 cap for their concessional contributions for the 2026 year and, especially for someone who’s reasonably new to Australia and probably doesn’t have a big super balance depending on what they rolled over when they moved, it could be a great way to get money into the fund and reduce their own tax.”
Richardson explained there are rules surrounding when a fund can accept contributions and impact whether a member can claim a deduction for a personal contribution.
“That contribution does need to be in the fund, but what does that mean for the fund in terms of accepting a contribution and what do we need to be aware of?”
“Under SIS regulation 7.04 there are age bracket requirements for making a contribution that are pretty straightforward.
“Less than 55 years and between 55 and 74 years all member contributions are available to be made. The fund can accept those contributions with a little bit of difference for downsizing. Once a member turns 75 they’re no longer able to make those personal member contributions to the fund, except within 28 days of the end of the month that they turn 75.”
Richardson continued that whether a member will exceed their cap by making a contribution is impacted by several things.
“If a member makes a contribution and the fund accepts it, but the member has exceeded their contribution cap, that is a separate issue from the fund accepting that contribution,” he said.
“That does become very important when thinking about money coming out of the fund. [Realistically] the fund shouldn’t accept a contribution if it exceeds the member’s cap – it should reject that.
“As soon as it does become aware, the fund should pay out that contribution within 30 days.”
