Spouse contributions

Working part time, taking time out of the workforce or being on a lower income may mean having less super. Over time, that could leave you with less money in retirement. Spouse contributions can help close the gap, with benefits for both of you. 

How it works

The person earning more contributes to their partner’s super account. These payments are from their take-home pay, known as after-tax or non-concessional contributions. They are not taxed again when paid into your spouse’s account
 

• If your spouse’s income is $37,000 or less per year:
  • you can claim an 18% tax offset on up to $3,000 for any spouse contributions you make.
  • The maximum spouse contributions tax offset available is $540 per year
• The offset also applies to spouses earning less than $40,000 per year. It gradually reduces for every $1 of income over $37,000, phases out if your spouse earns $40,000 or more.
• To be eligible to receive the tax offset, you both need to meet certain criteria.

Tax benefits of spouse contributions

There are tax benefits for the contributing spouse who can offset their tax by up to $540. The partner on a lower or no income can enjoy their super balance increasing.

To be eligible for the tax offset, you need to contribute up to $3000 to your spouse's super, and you can contribute more than $3,000 to your spouse’s super, but the amount will not be eligible for the tax offset. But you'll need to make sure it's within their non-concessional contribution cap of $120,000.

The maximum tax offset is capped at up to $540 regardless of how much you contribute.

How to set it up

You will need:
 

• details of your partner’s taxable income, opens in a new window
• a completed 'Contribution for your spouse’ form to give your super fund.

Understand the limits

You can’t claim the tax offset if:
 

• Your spouse has exceeded their after-tax contributions cap for the financial year
• Their super balance was more than the transfer balance cap on 30 June of the previous financial year.

More ways to create super equality

Making a spouse contribution is one way to help grow your partner’s super. There are other ways to build joint retirement savings. You can also:

• Split before-tax (concessional) super contributions for the financial year with your spouses. This includes your employer’s mandatory contributions and your salary sacrifice payments.
• Split up to:
  • 85% of your before-tax contributions, or
  • Your spouse’s before-tax cap for that financial year, whichever amount is less.
• Your preservation age is 60. Your spouse must be under preservation age at the time of splitting the contributions. If they are between preservation age and age 64, they must be gainfully employed. Once your spouse turns 65, you can no longer split your contributions with them.

Use our superannuation retirement calculator to see how your super is tracking as a couple or individually.

Things to consider

Spouse contributions:

• You’ll need to know the account details of your spouse to make or receive a contribution.

Contribution splitting:
 

• Check if your super fund:
  • allows contribution splitting
  • charges fees for contribution splitting
• You must both be Australian citizens and a couple (married or de facto) when contributions are made.
• Spouse contributions are after-tax contributions made from your take-home pay. You can claim a tax offset if you qualify.

Related information

• Ways to grow your super
• Salary sacrificing
• Government co-contributions
   

Related documents

• Contribution for your spouse form (PDF, 180kB)
• Split your contributions with your spouse form (PDF, 374kB)