Splitting with your Spouse

Superannuation contributions splitting is when a member splits his \ her concessional superannuation contributions with their spouse. This is typically done when your spouse’s account balance is lower than yours. To receive a payment split, your spouse must be:

• Below preservation age (currently age 55) or
• Between preservation age and 65 years of age, but not yet retired.

More info for SMSF Contributions splitting can be downlaoded from the ATO website by clicking here.

Your members will give you an application in the approved form typically requesting a split of employer contributions made for them in the financial year prior to the year in which they submit their application. After checking the application’s validity, you can decide whether or not to allow them to split their contributions.

Trustees may wish to split contributions with a spouse for the following reasons:

• maximise their combined low rate threshold;
• pay for insurance premiums for the non-working or low-income spouse;
• access superannuation benefits earlier by splitting contributions to the older spouse;
• improve the client’s Centrelink position by splitting contributions to the younger spouse; or
• take advantage of the changing Superanuation legislation putting caps on the tax free amounts available to Trustees in Superannuation.

Amounts contributed to superannuation that can generally not be split are:

• benefits received in the SMSF as a roll over from another fund
• amounts previously rolled over as part of a contributions-splitting

An important step in the contribution splitting process is that the contribution must first be contributed to the Member’s account. The contribution cannot be directly paid to the spouse’s member account.

A split is generally done after the end of the financial year in which the contribution is made. A member request a contribution split with the form below: