Spouse contributions and super splitting
There are 2 main ways you can help grow your spouse’s super: make a spouse contribution, or split your own contributions with your spouse.
A spouse contribution is when you pay money into your spouse or partner’s super account from your after-tax income. If they earn less than $40,000 a year or are not working right now,1 you can claim an 18% tax offset of up to $540 if you add $3,000 to their super.
The tax offset starts when your spouse earns less than $37,000 a year, and it reduces as they earn more, ending when they earn $40,000 a year or more.
Spouse Retirement Calculator
Find out how much you and your spouse could have in retirement, based on both of your situations. The calculator will ask you if you want to include your partner’s details.
Try it nowHow to add to your spouse's super
We make it easy to make a spouse contribution or split your super contributions.
How to make a spouse contribution
Your partner receiving the contribution needs to give us their tax file number (TFN) and be under 75. They can add their TFN to the Profile section in Member Online.
Send the money now
Make a BPAY® payment online on our website (using the receiving spouse's ART member number) or use our Spouse Contribution Advice form.
Pay with BPAYHow to claim the spouse contribution tax offset
Make sure you meet these conditions before trying to claim the offset:
- Your partner receiving the contribution is under 75.
- You're living with your partner when you made the contribution.
- Your partner is under the limits for contributions and total super balance before the start of the financial year you made the contribution.
- Both of you are living in Australia.
You'll then claim the spouse contribution tax offset in a specific section in your tax return – see the ATO website for instructions.
| Spouse income | Tax offset you can claim on a $3,000 contribution |
|---|---|
| $37,000/year or less | $540 |
| $38,000/year | $360 |
| $39,000/year | $180 |
| $40,000/year | $0 |
How to split your super contributions
Not all super funds let you split your super – but we do, and we don’t charge any special fees. Here’s how you can split some of your before-tax (concessional) contributions into your partner’s account.
Follow these steps
Don’t wait too long
They must be under the age they can access their super, or between their access age and 65 and not retired.
Check your accounts and balances
Your account with us needs at least $6,000 left after you split the contributions. Check your account balance in our app or in Member Online. (Your partner receiving the money from your super can be with ART or another super fund.)
Choose the amounts
Check your contribution amounts and how much you want to split – the minimum you can split is $5,000 (gross or before tax).
Use the form
Download and send us the Contribution splitting form. Wait until the end of the financial year to do this, unless you're leaving a super fund or withdrawing your super.
What can you include?
- Up to 85% of your eligible before-tax contributions for the year, or your concessional contribution cap for the financial year – whichever is less.
- Includes your employer’s super contributions, your salary sacrifice contributions, or contributions you claimed a tax deduction on.
These may be helpful
Looking for your spouse’s reportable superannuation contributions?
You can find this on your spouse or partner’s end-of-financial-year PAYG summary, or you may be able to add it up from their payslips for the year.
Make sure you check the limits for the year for their non-concessional super contributions and total super balance.
Case study
Making a spouse contribution
Charlie (30) works as a teacher, earning $80,000 a year, while their partner Amy (28) works casually and earns $37,000 a year.
They’ve been living together for 5 years, and Charlie wants to help grow Amy’s super balance and also get the tax benefits. Together, they decide to do this with regular spouse contributions, putting $120 a fortnight after-tax into Amy’s super account.
Since Amy is a low-income earner, the first $3,000 of Charlie’s spouse contribution gets the maximum tax offset of 18%. This reduces the tax payable on Charlie’s income by $540, and Amy ends up with an extra $3,120 in her super for the year.
How do we know if a spouse contribution vs super splitting is right for us?
Deciding what's best for you depends on your personal circumstances, so you might want to get financial advice about your and your partner’s super. Check out the advice options included with your membership. Not a member yet? Join today.
Some of the benefits of growing your spouse’s super can include:
Insurance in super
If they have insurance on their account for illness and injury, or even death, keeping their account balance up means they can pay the cost to keep their insurance.
Save on tax and Centrelink
You receive a tax offset when you make a spouse contribution if it meets the criteria. Contribution splitting might mean you or your spouse is more likely to get the government’s Age Pension.
Stay within the limits
Contribution splitting can help you avoid going over the limit on the total super balance each person can have.
Earlier access to super
If you’ve split super contributions with your spouse and they retire before you, it means together, you effectively get earlier access than if you waited until your retirement to access that super.
FAQs about super for your spouse or partner
What is a spouse?
A spouse is someone you're legally married to or your de facto partner. De facto means you live together as a couple, including same-sex relationships.
How do I transfer super to my spouse?
The main things to consider are your current budget and your income level, and you can get financial advice about whether salary sacrificing to your super is right for your situation.
You need to make sure you'd have enough left in your take-home pay if you salary sacrificed. There's no point saving extra for the future if you leave yourself short today.
And if you earn less than $45,000 a year, there's less of a tax benefit to salary sacrificing. Instead, you might think about making after-tax contributions, which could make you eligible for the government's super co-contribution.
Another option is to make a voluntary contribution (after-tax contribution) to your super and then claim a tax deduction on those contributions.
How much can I make in spouse contributions?
There's no limit on how much you can pay as a spouse contribution, as long as it's under your spouse's non-concessional contribution limit for the year.
Keep in mind the maximum tax offset you can get is $540 if you contribute $3,000 or more.
When can you split contributions?
You can apply to transfer super to your spouse or partner once each financial year.
Usually you need to do this in the financial year after the year the contributions came into your account – unless you're leaving your super fund in the current financial year.
How does splitting work with contribution limits?
The contributions you transfer to your spouse still count towards your before-tax (concessional) contribution limits.
Splitting contributions to keep each other's balances below $500,000 could help you both to take advantage of the carry forward rules on your before-tax contributions for up to 5 years.
What kinds of super can’t you split with your spouse?
Types of contributions that you're unable to split with your spouse include:
- After-tax (non-concessional) contributions
- Money you’ve rolled over from another super fund
- Contributions made to a QSuper Defined Benefit account
- Downsizer contributions
- Contributions subject to family law conditions
- Long service and annual leave paid out to you when your employment is terminated
- Amounts counted towards capital gains tax (CGT) for small business
- Government co-contributions and low income super tax offset (LISTO) contributions
- Contributions made by your spouse to your super
What other ways can we grow our super?
There are so many ways you can grow your or your partner's super, depending on your situation and how much you each earn.
Show them you're in this together
Split super contributions
Fill out our contribution splitting form to transfer contributions to your partner’s account.
®Registered to BPAY Pty Ltd ABN 69 079 137 518.
In general, we can accept personal super contributions from you if you’re under 75 years old. (Unless you make the contribution within 28 days of the month you turned 75.)
1. What they earn includes your spouse’s assessable income, total reportable fringe benefits, and reportable employer super contributions, less any amounts they’ve taken out of their super for a home deposit during the financial year.