Superannuation changes from 1 July 2014

There are a number of changes that have come into effect for the new financial year regarding contribution caps, excess contributions, superannuation guarantee increases, government co-contributions and super contributions tax rebates for low income earners.
It’s important that you are aware of how these might affect you.

Contribution Caps
Outlined below are the current year contribution caps for the period 1/7/14 – 30/6/15:

Concessional Contributions Cap
(Employer or self employed contributions including salary sacrifice amounts)
$30,000 (up to age 49 at 30/06/2014)
$35,000 (Age 49+ at 30/06/2014)

Non-concessional Contributions Cap
$180,000 or $540,000 over 3 years

Please be aware if you are over 65 years of age you need to meet the work test to qualify to contribute to super. There are also restrictions on using the 3 year bring forward provisions for those 65 years and over. Please contact our office if this is something you are considering, to ensure you do not exceed the limits.

Excess Concessional Contribution
From 2013-14 and later years, excess concessional contributions are included in an individual’s taxable income (with a non-refundable tax offset equal to the 15% tax paid by the fund).

Should you receive an excess contribution assessment, you will have the option of paying the excess contribution tax personally or through the super fund.

Any concessional contributions in excess of the cap will count towards your non-concessional contributions cap.

Excess Non Concessional Contribution
The Government has announced that an individual with contributions in excess of their non-concessional contributions cap will be allowed to withdraw those excess contributions and associated earnings. As a result, individuals will not be subject to the excess non-concessional contributions tax but will be taxed on these contributions at their marginal rate. This measure will bring in line the treatment of excess non-concessional contributions with that of excess concessional contributions.

This measure will apply retrospectively to excess non-concessional contributions made from 1 July 2013.

Superannuation Guarantee Increases
It is proposed to freeze the Super Guarantee (SG) rate at 9.5% from 1 July 2014 until 30 June 2018 when it will increase by 0.5% each year until it reaches 12% on 1 July 2023 as follows:

Financial Year                                          SCG percentage proposed
1 July 2014 – 30 June 2018                                        9.5%
1 July 2018 – 30 June 2019                                      10.0%
1 July 2019 – 30 June 2020                                     10.5%
1 July 2020 – 30 June 2021                                     11.0%
1 July 2021 – 30 June 2022                                     11.5%
1 July 2022 – 30 June 2023                                     12.0%

Superannuation Government Co-Contributions
From 1 July 2014 the higher income threshold against which the co-contribution is assessed has been increased from $46,920 to $48,516 and the lower income threshold has been increased from $31,920 to $33,516.

Super Contributions Tax Rebate for Low-Income Earners
The low income super contribution (LISC) is a government super payment of up to $500 per financial year to help low income earners. The LISC is 15% of the concessional contributions you or your employer makes from 1 July 2012. For example should you qualify and concessional contributions of $3,000 are made into your superannuation fund, the Tax Office will pay $450 into your super fund. The maximum payment you can receive for a financial year is $500.

The Australian Taxation Office will use the information on your income tax return to work out your eligibility for the LISC. If you do not lodge an income tax return, the Taxation Office will work out eligibility using other information collected.

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Wildcats Corporate Training

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan

Friday the 2^nd of May, 2014 so many shots missed, as GeersSullivan and our most ‘basketballing’ astute clients participated in Corporate Training of a different kind. This corporate training involved a training session and breakfast with the Reigning NBL Champions the Perth Wildcats.

With the likes of All-Star Centre Matty Knight, 6^th Man of the Year Winner Jessie Wagstaff and Defensive Player of the Year Damien Martin, and NBL Championship Coach Trevor Gleeson taking some of GeersSullivan’s Employees, Family Member and Clients for training and breakfast. It was safe to say we were in very good company.

The training involved a rigorous hour session performing drills and skills, followed by three 5 minute games of 5 vs 5. The sit down breakfast, was a great opportunity to chat with players and ask them about the successes of the previous season and the challenges of the upcoming offseason.

With some individuals showing a lot more potential than others, whether it be from the simplest of dribbling drills, or the more advanced jump shooters, it was a great forum for our clients to network with other business minded individuals from similar and different fields.

With GeersSullivan looking to host more similar Corporate Trainings and Information evenings for our clients, would we like to thank everyone involved for making it such a great success.

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