Personal Contributions Guide

Transcription

1 QSuper Guide Personal Contributions Guide Options for contributing to your super Issued: 1 July 2016

2 2 Contents Contributions 3 Contribution categories 4 Employer contributions 6 Voluntary contributions 8 Benefits of salary sacrifice 9 Making personal contributions if you re self-employed 10 Super and your spouse 11 Contributions from the Australian Government 12 Important information 13

3 3 Contributions You might think that your super is something only your employer looks after, but there s actually a number of ways you can boost your retirement savings. This guide tells you everything you need to know about making contributions into your Accumulation account, the limits that apply, and how to make them. If you have a Defined Benefit account, you ll find the info you need in our Defined Benefit Guide on our website. Just head to qsuper.qld.gov.au or call us and we ll send you a copy. Let s take a look now at the three ways contributions can be made into your super: By you You can make voluntary contributions to your super either before or after tax. If you work for the Queensland Government you re generally required to make contributions of between 2-5% to your super and we refer to these as standard contributions. You can make contributions up to and including age 74. However if you re aged 65-74, you must be gainfully employed for at least 40 hours over 30 consecutive days each financial year to be allowed to make contributions (this is called the work test). Your spouse can also make contributions to your super to your super, up to and including age 69, but if you re aged 65-69, you must meet the work test. When can I access my super? Your super is designed to support you financially in retirement, so contributions that are made into it are locked away, generally until you retire after reaching what s known as your preservation age. Depending when you were born, your preservation age is between 55 and 60. In some circumstances you can access some or all of your super early. These circumstances broadly include: severe financial hardship compassionate grounds terminal medical condition total and permanent disability. You can find more info in our Accumulation Account Guide. Just head to qsuper.qld.gov.au or call us and we ll send you a copy. By your employer Your employer must contribute the standard 9.5% super guarantee amount to your super as a before-tax contribution. However if you work for the Queensland Government and make standard contributions, your employer will contribute up to 12.75% to your super depending on how much you contribute. By the Australian Government If you re a low income earner, the Government may contribute to your super in two ways. If you earn less than $51,021 in the 2016/2017 financial year the Australian Government will contribute 50 cents for every $1 you contribute to your super (to a maximum of $500) through the Super Co-contribution scheme. If you earn less than $37,000 a year the Australian Government will make a contribution to your super to a maximum of $500 through the Low Income Superannuation Contribution scheme.

4 4 Contribution categories We ll take a closer look at how contributions can be made in a moment, but first we need to let you know about the two categories of contributions (concessional and non-concessional) and the limits (or what s known as caps) that apply to them. Concessional (before-tax) contributions Put simply, concessional contributions are those made from your before-tax income. They include: employer contributions your before-tax contributions (salary sacrificed) your contributions where a tax deduction has been claimed. Tax is payable on concessional contributions when they re paid into your super account, so it s important that you give us your tax file number (TFN). If we don t have your TFN, your concessional contributions may be taxed at a higher rate. What is the concessional contributions cap? As we ve already mentioned, these are caps (or limits) that apply to how much you can put into your super in concessional contributions. For the 2016/2017 financial year, the concessional contributions cap is $30,000. So, if you re making before-tax contributions (don t forget these include your employer contributions) you can contribute up to $30,000 in a financial year before you exceed the cap. If you re 49 or older on or before 30 June 2016, your cap is $35,000. The cap is generally indexed each year with average weekly ordinary time earnings (AWOTE1) and increased in increments of $5,000 (rounded down). The concessional contributions cap applies to all concessional contributions paid into any of your super accounts. It s important to keep in mind that you ll have to pay additional tax for any concessional contributions that exceed the cap. Any excess concessional contributions will be taxed at your marginal tax rate (remember, this is the highest rate of income tax that a person pays on income). The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will also apply an interest charge. Just so you know, you do have the option of having up to 85 per cent of your excess concessional contributions refunded from your super without being penalised. It s important you remember all salary sacrifice contributions are treated as concessional contributions and count towards the concessional contributions cap, and they re included when calculating your total income for super co-contribution purposes and other government benefits. You can find more information on the ATO website at ato.gov.au. And, different tax rules apply if your adjusted earnings (this is your taxable income plus any reportable fringe benefits, net investment losses and concessional contributions) is more than $300,000 a year. A tax of 30 per cent will apply to contributions above this threshold. So, if your income is $280,000 and your concessional contributions are $30,000, this takes your total income to $310,000. That means tax of 30 per cent tax will apply only to the $10,000 above the $300,000 threshold, and 15 per cent tax will apply to the $20,000 balance of contributions. If your income is over $300,000, excluding concessional contributions, then 30 per cent tax will apply to all of the concessional contributions you make, up to the cap. Subject to legislation being passed, from 1 July 2017 the before-tax (concessional) contribution cap will be reduced to $25,000 regardless of age. If your balance is less than $500,000 you ll have the option to catch up on unused cap amounts over a rolling five year period, up to age 75. Additionally all Australians up to age 75 will be able to claim a tax deduction for personal contributions made, regardless of their work circumstances, up to the concessional contribution cap. Non-concessional (after-tax) contributions In the world of super we also have what are called nonconcessional contributions. These are any contributions made into your super after tax has been paid on them. They include: contributions you make from your after-tax income contributions your spouse makes to your account Non-concessional contributions are generally not taxed, except when they go over the cap. What is the non-concessional contributions cap? For the 2016/2017 financial year, the non-concessional contributions cap is $180,000. So, if you re making after-tax contributions, you can contribute up to $180,000 in a financial year before you exceed the cap. But if you re under 65 at any time during the financial year, you can contribute up to three times your after-tax cap (which is $540,000) in a financial year without being penalised. Just remember that as you re essentially doing what s called bringing forward contributions, you couldn t contribute any more for the next two years without exceeding the cap. You can make the contribution in one lump sum or it can be spread over the three years. Keep in mind that if you are aged between 65 and 74, you ll need to meet the work test rule we talked about on page 3 before we can accept your contribution. The non-concessional contributions cap applies to all nonconcessional contributions paid into your super. If you go over this cap at any time, your excess contributions will be taxed at the highest marginal rate (45 per cent2). If this happens, you ll have to pay the tax amount you owe using funds from your super. 1 AWOTE is a measure of wage levels across Australia, calculated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2 Plus applicable levies.

5 5 The after-tax (non-concessional) contribution cap will also be limited to a lifetime cap of $500,000 subject to legislation being passed. This change will be effective from 3 May 2016 and includes after-tax contributions made since 1 July If you ve already exceeded this cap you won t be penalised, however if you make further after-tax contributions, you ll be liable to pay a penalty tax. If you re not sure if your total non-concessional contributions are close to or have exceeded $500,000 since 1 July 2007, you may wish to seek personal financial advice before making further non-concessional contributions. What happens to my non-concessional contributions if you don t have my tax file number? If we don t have your tax file number (TFN), we unfortunately can t accept non-concessional (after tax) contributions from you. We ll return any non-concessional contributions you make if we don t have your TFN, or if you don t give it to us within 30 days of when we receive your non-concessional contribution. If we have to do this, we ll return your contribution to you in full. You won t pay any fees or receive investment returns on the amount. You can find more info about providing your TFN on page 13 of this guide. You can also take a look at our Tax Explanation factsheet. Just head to qsuper.qld.gov.au or call us and we ll send you a copy. Exemptions from the caps There are some contributions that aren t included in either contributions cap. Let s take a quick look at them: government co-contributions an indexed lifetime limit of $1,415 million 1 under the small business capital gains tax concessions settlement for injuries resulting in a total and permanent disability payment from super. The rules relating to these exemptions from the contribution caps are complex and there are time limits to claiming an exemption. You ll need to give us substantiating documents to support your claim for the exemption at the time the contribution is made. If you want to claim an exemption, make sure you seek financial advice about the tax implications and requirements to qualify. Capital gains tax exemption If you re a small business owner, you may be able to boost your retirement savings through a capital gains tax exemption. If you sell certain small business assets that you ve held for more than 15 years, any contributions you make into your super with the proceeds are exempt from your non-concessional contributions cap, up to a lifetime limit of $1,415 million.1 These contributions will also be exempt from Capital Gains Tax (CGT) and must be made as personal contributions (but you won t be able to claim a tax deduction on these). If you held the asset for less than 15 years but you sold it because of permanent disability, the exemption may still apply. This is a pretty complex topic so we recommend that you get some personal financial advice if you re thinking about making a CGT-exempt contribution. QInvest offers personal financial advice services including one-off specific advice about your QSuper benefit, through to comprehensive advice about your entire financial situation. Just call or visit qinvest.com.au More info is also available in the Guide to Capital Gains Tax Concessions for Small Business, available from the ATO website at ato.gov.au or you can call them on Keeping track of your contributions It s important to remember that we don t monitor your standard member and employer contributions, or ongoing voluntary contributions. To make sure you don t go over the concessional and non-concessional contributions caps, it s a good idea to keep a record of the ongoing total of your contributions each financial year. Keep in mind too that the contributions caps apply to the combined contributions going into all of your super funds, not just the amounts paid to us. 1 Current for the 2016/2017 financial year. This limit is indexed annually with average weekly ordinary time earnings (AWOTE) in increments of $5,000. AWOTE is a measure of wage levels across Australia, as calculated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

6 6 Employer contributions The contributions your employer must pay into your super If you re eligible for compulsory super guarantee contributions, your employer must contribute the standard super guarantee rate of 9.5 per cent to your super no matter where you work. This rate can be higher, depending on your personal situation. For Queensland Government and related entity employees and police officers, there are slightly different arrangements in place. Let s take a closer look at these below. Queensland Government and related entity employees There are three different employment arrangements that determine your contribution options: core arrangements other arrangements casual arrangements. You can find out what arrangement you have in your Welcome to QSuper letter, or you can call us and we ll let you know. Core arrangements If you re a permanent or temporary employee, you re already contributing between 2 per cent and 5 per cent of your salary into super. These personal contributions are known as standard contributions and are normally made after you ve paid income tax. Your employer will also contribute between 9.75 per cent and per cent of your gross salary on a sliding scale. This is how it works: You pay Your employer pays 2% 9.75% 11.75% 3% 10.75% 13.75% 4% 11.75% 15.75% 5% 12.75% 17.75% Total contributed to your super Your standard contributions will default to 5 per cent of your salary when you first start working, but you can change your contribution amount at any time. You can also make voluntary contributions to help boost your retirement savings we ll explain how on page 8. If you want to change your contribution rate, you ll just need to fill out the Start or Change Regular Contributions to Your Super form and give it to your payroll office. You can find the form on our website, or call us and we ll send you a copy. You may also have the option to salary sacrifice your super. This can be a very tax-effective way of making contributions, as when you salary sacrifice you re paying 15% tax on your contributions instead of your marginal tax rate (which could be up to 45%1). And if you re already making contributions and you re-contribute your tax savings back into your super, you ll potentially be boosting your super without decreasing your take-home pay. Speak to your payroll office to see whether this is an option for you. If you have a Defined Benefit account, you ll find the info you need in our Defined Benefit Guide on our website. Just head to qsuper.qld.gov.au or call us and we ll send you a copy. Other arrangements If you re employed under other arrangements your employer may negotiate different super contributions. They may also specify a standard member contribution at a single rate, which is usually 5 per cent of your salary. In some cases, employers don t allow for standard contributions to be made and will only pay the standard super guarantee rate of 9.5 per cent. But you ll still have the option to make voluntary contributions into your account. Again, just get in touch with your pay office to organise this. Casual arrangements If you re a casual employee, your employer must contribute the standard super guarantee rate of 9.5 per cent to your super. You don t have to make standard contributions but if your employer lets you, it can be a simple and effective way to boost your retirement savings. Just take a look at the table above to see how much your employer will contribute if you make standard contributions. You can also make voluntary contributions, but your employer doesn t have to increase their contributions above 9.5 per cent if you choose to do this. Police officers Your contribution rates are different if you re a police officer. When you start work as a police officer you ll automatically contribute 6 per cent of your salary to your super and your employer will contribute 18 per cent. You can choose to pay less, in which case, so will your employer. This is how it looks: You pay Your employer pays 3% 12% 15% 4% 14% 18% 5% 16% 21% 6% 18% 24% Total contributed to your super If you re a commissioned police officer (and have a contract to let you stay in the service over the age of 60) you contribute between 2 per cent and 5 per cent of your salary plus any approved allowances, while your employer contributes between 9.75 per cent and per cent per cent. 1 Plus applicable levies.

7 7 What salary is used to calculate contributions? Your base salary is used to calculate contributions. This is simply the salary or wage you earn for your ordinary hours of work and includes any approved additional allowances such as shift and locality allowances and commissions. You can find more info at ato.gov.au/super If you re a Member of the Legislative Assembly, your total salary is used to calculate contributions. Your total salary includes your backbencher salary and any additional salary you re entitled to when holding office. When does my employer pay my contributions? If you re a Queensland Government employee, your contributions are deducted from your salary each pay cycle, and they re generally paid to us within seven days of the end of your pay cycle. For non-queensland Government employees, your employer is required to pay their contributions every quarter. You can log in to Member Online to check the details of your contributions, or call us and we ll let you know. Changing jobs? Take us with you. If you re moving to a new role, we can move with you, even if it s somewhere outside the Queensland Government. This means you can continue to enjoy low fees, solid returns and expert advice, without the hassle of starting with a new super fund from scratch. And remember, in most cases you don t have to join the fund your employer suggests.1 1 In some circumstances, you may not be eligible to have your employer contribute to QSuper. Please check with your employer.

8 8 Voluntary contributions The contributions you choose to make Voluntary contributions are a great way to give your super a boost. All the contributions you make to your super, big or small, grow over the long term meaning you ll have more money for your retirement. And the earlier you start, the better, as you ll benefit from the effects of compounding. Put simply, compounding is where your investment earns interest (earnings) on interest. The graph below shows how it generally works. By saving just $20 per week, after 30 years you could have over $80,000 and only about $30,000 came from your own pocket! That s more than $50,000 of earnings just from compounding. As more years pass, an increasingly larger proportion of the final amount is made up of earnings. How compounding can maximise your investment1 Savings $75k $50k $25k How to make voluntary contributions It s super easy to make voluntary contributions. Let s take a look at your four options: 1. Through your employer If you work for the Queensland Government or a related entity employer, you can make voluntary contributions direct from your payroll. You just need to fill out a Start or Change Regular Contributions to Your Super form and give it to your payroll office. 2. Complete a Deposit form You can download and complete this form either from our website or ask us to send you a copy. Include a cheque or money order for the amount you want to deposit. 3. Via BPAY Making voluntary contributions via BPAY2 is easy. Just use the individual BPAY details listed on your annual statement or you can find these through Member Online. If you can t find them, give us a call and we can help. The minimum BPAY contribution we can accept is $1, and we can accept them once your bank transfers your funds to QSuper. 4. Visit a Member Centre You can make contributions in person by cash (there s a maximum deposit amount of $1,000) or by EFTPOS (any daily transaction limits set by your bank will apply) at one of our member centres. $0k Savings 5 Earnings Years Although QSuper s Accumulation account is unit based, it s the same principle of compounding that helps your super grow. Just a little extra now could make a big difference to your future lifestyle. Just remember that any voluntary contributions you make are made on top of your standard contributions, and don t attract higher employer contributions. 1 These figures are illustrative only and were calculated using the MoneySmart calculator (accessed 24 June 2016). Assumptions: 1. The calculation assumes savings of $20 per week for a time period of 30 years. 2. The calculation assumes the interest compounds monthly. 3. The interest rate assumed is 6% and is net of fees and taxes. 4. The calculation assumes that earnings are reinvested and fully credited at the end of each month. 5. The information shouldn t be used as a guide to future performance of any investment. 6. Investment returns can be positive or negative and this does not guarantee a future outcome. 7. The total saved doesn t take inflation into account. 8. Check with your chosen savings product provider in regard to actual interest calculations. 9. The calculation provides an estimate of the future value of savings, which could vary significantly over time if any change is made to these assumptions. 10. These figures are provided only to demonstrate the principle of compounding. They are not intended to represent projected returns in a QSuper Accumulation account. 2 Registered to BPAY Pty Ltd ABN

9 9 Benefits of salary sacrifice Salary sacrificing really isn t as scary as it sounds! Essentially it s when you contribute a portion of your salary to your super before you pay any tax on it, which lowers the amount of salary you pay tax on. It can be a very tax-effective way of making contributions, as when you salary sacrifice you re paying 15% tax on your contributions, instead of your marginal tax rate (which could be up to 45%1). And if you re already making contributions and you re-contribute your tax savings back into your super, you ll potentially be boosting your super without decreasing your take-home pay. Just keep in mind that if you re on a lower income, salary sacrifice might not be the right move for you because you re already paying a lower income tax rate. To get an idea of how much you could benefit from salary sacrificing your super, have a play around with the calculators on our website. Just head to qsuper.qld.gov.au/calculators-andforms and pick the calculator that applies to you we ve got one for Queensland Government employees and one for non- Queensland Government employees. This case study shows this in action: Jane works for the Queensland Government, earns $72,500 a year and makes standard after-tax contributions to her super of $3,625 a year. If she makes this contribution to her super as a before-tax salary sacrifice contribution, her income tax will decrease from $16,593 a year to $15,340 a year. That means her take home pay increases from $52,281 to $53,534.2 Jane could then contribute the difference to her super, meaning she is boosting her super without affecting her take-home pay. 1 Plus applicable levies. 2 This is just an example of how salary sacrificing works, and doesn t take into account your personal tax liability. The calculation is based on tax rates for the 2016/2017 financial year.

10 10 Making personal contributions if you re self-employed You re considered self-employed if more than 90 per cent of your total income comes from your own business. If this is the case, you can make personal contributions to your super and you may be able to claim a tax deduction on them. Just keep in mind that the personal contributions you choose to claim a tax deduction for are considered concessional contributions, so they ll count towards your concessional contributions cap. Before you make these types of contributions, it s a good idea to get financial advice from your accountant, financial adviser, or the ATO to see if it s the best strategy for you. Claiming tax deductions on personal contributions If you re self-employed and want to claim a tax deduction on personal contributions to your super, 15 per cent contributions tax will be deducted from the amount you want to claim. The amount will also count towards the concessional contributions cap. To make a tax deduction, you ll need to be a member of QSuper and of course, you must ve made a personal contribution into your account. There are a couple of age restrictions you need to know about too. If you re age 75 or older, you can t claim a deduction for contributions that were made more than 28 days after the month you turned 75. And if you re under age 18 at the end of the financial year in which you make the contribution, you must ve earned income as an employee or a business operator during the year. If you run your business as a company or trust, and you re a director or an employee, you won t be able to claim a deduction for personal contributions. This is because the ATO will view any super contributions made through the company as employer contributions. How do I claim a tax deduction? You can tell us you want to claim a tax deduction when you make a personal contribution - just fill out section 5 on the Deposit form. Or, you can complete and send us a Notice to the QSuper Board of Trustees (Notice of intent to claim or vary a deduction for personal super contributions) before: the day you lodge your tax return for the year you made the contributions the end of the financial year following the one you made the contributions (whichever is earlier). Once we receive and acknowledge your notice of intent to claim a tax deduction, you can t withdraw it but you can apply to reduce it. You can do this before: you lodge your income tax return for the year you made the OR contributions the end of the financial year after the year the contribution was made (whichever is earlier). If the balance of your QSuper account is less than the amount of contributions tax that would be payable on the contribution, we may not accept your notice to claim a tax deduction. Just so you know, a Notice to the QSuper Board of Trustees form can t: be submitted if you re no longer a QSuper member be submitted once we ve begun to pay a super income stream based on any part of the contribution be used to vary a previous deduction notice if we ve begun to pay you a super income stream based on any part of the contribution refer to a contribution no longer held by QSuper refer to any part of a contribution claimed in a previous notice, except to reduce the amount you claimed be submitted if you ve already made a contribution-splitting application to QSuper for the same contributions. The Deposit form and the Notice To The QSuper Board Of Trustees form are on our website at qsuper.qld.gov.au, or call us and we ll send you the form you need.

11 11 Super and your spouse It s always nice to give your loved ones something special. So why not open a QSuper account for your spouse? How do we define a spouse? A spouse includes someone who you re in a registered relationship with, or someone you re living with on a genuine domestic basis (including same sex relationships). Opening an account Opening an account for your partner is easy. You just need to complete and send us your Open an Account as the Spouse of a QSuper Member form along with a minimum deposit of $10 and once we ve set it up, you can start making contributions into it. Your spouse can then arrange for their employer to contribute their super to this account and they can also consolidate all their super into it too. Making spouse contributions Making contributions to your spouse s account can be a real win-win, because depending on their income, you may be able to claim a tax offset. So here s how it works. If your spouse earns1 $10,800 or less, you re entitled to a tax offset of 18 per cent for the first $3,000 of any spouse contribution you make, up to a maximum amount of $540 per year. If your spouse earns more than $10,800 a year but less than $13,800 a year, you could be eligible for a partial tax offset. Just remember that any contributions you make on behalf of your spouse count towards their non-concessional contributions cap. This case study shows this in action: Steve is 39 and earns $75,000 a year. Amy is 37, works 10 hours a week and earns $12,500 a year. Steve contributes $120 a fortnight to Amy s account ($3,120 a year). Remembering only the first $3,000 receives the tax offset, Steve s tax offset is calculated like this: ($3,000 ($12,500 $10,800)) X 18% So Steve gets a total tax offset of $234! Things to be aware of: It s pretty straightforward if you want to make contributions for your spouse, but there are a few requirements: Your spouse must meet the definition of spouse. You and your spouse must be Australian residents at the time you make or receive the contribution. You and your spouse mustn t be living separately or apart on a permanent basis at the time you make the contribution. The person whose account the contribution is going into must provide their tax file number (see page 13 for more details). The person whose account the contribution is going into must be under age 65 (or have worked at least 40 hours in a continuous 30-day period, if they are age 65 or over, but under age 70). The contributing spouse can t make the contribution as an employer. Consolidate your super If you ve worked at a few different places, chances are you have numerous super accounts. But if you consolidate all your super into your QSuper account, you could maximise your investments while reducing the number of fees you re paying. We ve made it easy for you to get your super together in the one place, and we don t charge you any fees to consolidate. Just make sure you check with your other fund/s first if there are any exit fees from their end, or if you ll lose any benefits like insurance or pension options. You may be able to transfer your insurance cover with another fund to QSuper, but you must do this before you consolidate your super with QSuper. You ll find more information in the Accumulation Account Insurance Guide, which you can download from our website, or call us and we ll send you a copy. We ve made it really easy to consolidate your super. Just go to the Add to super section of Member Online, or fill out a Consolidate with QSuper form for each account you want to roll over. Go to qsuper.qld.gov.au or give us a call and we ll send you as many copies as you need. Subject to legislation being passed, from 1 July 2017 the work test age limit for members aged 65 to 74 will be abolished. The age limit for spouse contributions will increase to age Income is defined as assessable income plus any reportable fringe benefits and reportable employer superannuation contributions (RESC).

12 12 Contributions from the Australian Government Super co-contribution The super co-contribution is an initiative that encourages you to add more to your super. The Australian Government will contribute up to 50 cents for every $1 you contribute after tax to your super, to a maximum of $500, if you meet all of the following criteria: your total income1 is less than $51,021 for the 2016/2017 financial year Low income superannuation contribution (LISC) This initiative is to help boost your retirement savings. If you re eligible, the Australian Government will refund the tax you paid on your before-tax contributions back into your super, up to a maximum of $500. To be eligible, your taxable income must be less than $37,000 a year.2 you made a non-concessional (after-tax) contribution before 30 June of the financial year 10 per cent or more of your total income needs to be earned from eligible activities, including being an employee, running a business, or both you re under age 71 at the end of the financial year you haven t held an eligible temporary resident visa at any time during the financial year The Australian Parliament has passed legislation to end the LISC payment at the end of the 2016/2017 financial year. Subject to legislation being passed the LISC payment will be replaced with the Low Income Superannuation Tax Off set (LISTO), from 1 July With the LISTO you may be entitled to have up to $500 of concessional contribution tax refunded to your super account if your adjustable taxable income is less than $37,000. you ve lodged a tax return for the financial year. To be able to receive the maximum co-contribution, your total income must be $36,021 for the 2016/2017 financial year. The co-contribution reduces on a sliding scale, as shown in the table below: Super co-contribution income thresholds Total income After-tax contribution required for maximum super co-contribution $36,021 $1,000 $500 $41,021 $666 $333 $46,021 $334 $167 $51,021 $0 $0 Maximum super co-contribution 2016/17 You ll also need to give us your tax file number (TFN) if you want to receive a co-contribution. The ATO uses the info on your income tax return and the contribution information from your super fund to work out whether you re eligible for a co-contribution. You can find more info about giving us your TFN on page 13. If you re eligible for the co-contribution, the ATO will automatically calculate the amount and deposit it into your super account. Just so you know, the ATO doesn t include spouse contributions when assessing eligibility, and the co-contribution doesn t count towards the contribution caps. You can find more info in the Superannuation Co-Contribution factsheet on our website, or call us and we ll send you a copy. 1 Including reportable fringe benefit amounts and reportable employer super contributions. If you re self-employed your income level will be measured by using your assessable income plus reportable fringe benefits, less any expenses incurred in carrying on a business. 2 Your adjusted taxable income is the income you get taxed on, plus any adjusted fringe benefits, target foreign income, total net investment loss, any pension or benefit that you get from the Government that s tax free and any reportable superannuation contributions that have had a child maintenance amount deducted.

13 13 Important information QInvest 1 QInvest s personal advice service includes one-off specific advice about your QSuper benefit, through to comprehensive advice about your financial situation. With a whole range of advice options, ranging in detail and cost, they ve got your advice needs covered. And remember, a portion of your advice fee can be deducted from your QSuper account. If you want to know more about QInvest and how they could help you, visit qinvest.com.au Your tax file number (TFN) You don t have to give us your TFN, but if you do we ll be able to accept all types of super contributions from you and you ll be able to take advantage of benefits such as paying a lower tax rate on your contributions. If you do give us your TFN, we ll of course only ever use it for lawful purposes related to your super. Just so you know, we may disclose your TFN to another super provider when your benefits are being transferred, unless you write to us and ask us not to. Topics in this guide If you want more info about the topics in this guide, check out the below publications: Open an Account as the Spouse of a QSuper Member form Deposit form Consolidate With QSuper form Early release of superannuation benefits due to severe financial hardship factsheet Compassionate Grounds Guide Notice To The QSuper Board Of Trustees form Start or Change Regular Contributions to Your Super form Consolidating Your Super with QSuper factsheet Superannuation Co-contribution factsheet Tax Explanation factsheet. These are all available on our website or call us and we ll send you any that you need. Need more information? To find new ways to get more out of your super, have a play around with the tools and calculators on our website at qsuper.qld.gov.au. You can experiment with as many different inputs and scenarios as you like. And we re always here to help on the phone too. Just call us on to get in touch. 1 QInvest is a separate legal entity responsible for the financial services and credit services it provides. Advice fees apply.

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16 Member Centres 70 Eagle Street Brisbane and 63 George Street Brisbane Telephone ( if overseas) Monday Friday 8.30am to 5.00pm Queensland time Postal address GPO Box 200 Brisbane Qld 4001 Fax Website qsuper.qld.gov.au ABN: SFN: /07/2016 IB03 We need to let you know that this information is provided by QInvest Limited (ABN AFSL and Australian Credit Licence Number ) which is ultimately owned by the QSuper Board (ABN ) as trustee for the QSuper Fund (ABN ). Unless we tell you otherwise, all products are issued by the QSuper Board as trustee for the QSuper Fund. When we say QSuper, we re talking about the QSuper Board, the QSuper Fund, QSuper Limited (ABN , AFSL ) or QInvest Limited, unless the context we re using it in suggests otherwise. We ve put this information together as general information only so keep in mind that it doesn t take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs, it shouldn t be relied on as legal or taxation advice and doesn t take the place of this type of advice. What we say about law or proposals is based on our interpretation of the law or proposals at the time we printed this document. You should consider whether the product is appropriate for you by reading a copy of the product disclosure statement before making a decision you can do this by downloading a copy from our website at qsuper.qld.gov.au or call us on QSuper Board of Trustees 2016