Spouse Super contribution offset.
Tax offset
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Your breakdown
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A tax break for topping up your partner's super
When one person in a couple earns much less than the other, often because they have stepped back from paid work to raise children or study, their super quietly falls behind. The spouse contribution tax offset is the government's nudge to fix that. If you contribute to the super of a low-income or non-working spouse, you can claim a tax offset of 18 percent of the contribution, worth up to $540 in a year. An offset is better than a deduction: it comes straight off the tax you owe, dollar for dollar. This tool takes the contribution you make and your spouse's income and shows the offset you can claim.
The $3,000 contribution and the income ceiling
The 18 percent rate applies to the first $3,000 of contributions, which is how the maximum offset lands at $540, being 18 percent of $3,000. Contribute more than $3,000 and the extra still goes into your spouse's super, but it earns no additional offset. The full offset is available only while your spouse's income is at or below $37,000. Above that it phases out dollar for dollar against the $3,000 contribution base, reaching zero once your spouse's income hits $40,000. So this is a benefit squarely aimed at couples where one partner has little or no income, not at two high earners.
A $3,000 contribution for a spouse earning $30,000
Imagine your partner earns $30,000 and you contribute $3,000 to their super. Because their income is below the $37,000 ceiling, you qualify for the full rate, and the tool returns an offset of $540.
That $540 comes directly off your tax bill, so on a $3,000 contribution it is an immediate 18 percent return, before the money starts compounding inside your spouse's fund. If your spouse instead earned $38,500, halfway into the phase-out, the contribution base would shrink and the offset would fall to about $270, which the visual below illustrates.
Getting the details right
There are a handful of conditions the tool does not check but that you must satisfy. The contribution has to be a non-concessional, after-tax payment to your spouse's complying super fund, not a salary sacrifice or anything you claim as your own deduction. You and your spouse both need to be Australian residents and not living separately on a permanent basis. Your spouse must be under 75 when you contribute, and their relevant income for this test is their assessable income plus reportable fringe benefits and reportable employer super contributions, which can be a little higher than their take-home salary suggests. Importantly, "spouse" includes a de facto partner, so married and de facto couples are treated the same way.
The smart way to think about this offset is as one tool among several for evening up a couple's retirement savings. For the very lowest earners, the government co-contribution can be more valuable, and where your spouse has some employment income they might attract both. Above a spouse income of $40,000 this offset is gone, but contribution splitting, where the higher earner transfers a portion of their own concessional contributions across to the lower-balance partner, can still help balance the two accounts. The mistake to avoid is assuming the offset is refundable: it can reduce your tax to zero but it cannot create a refund on its own, so if you pay little tax the offset may be partly wasted, and a different strategy may suit your household better.
What if my spouse has no income at all?
That is the ideal scenario for this offset. A spouse with zero income is well below the $37,000 ceiling, so a $3,000 contribution earns the full $540 offset. Contributing to a non-working partner's super is one of the simplest ways to both claim the offset and start rebuilding retirement savings that a career break has stalled.
Can I claim this offset and also split my own contributions to my spouse?
Yes, they are separate mechanisms. The spouse contribution offset rewards new after-tax money you put into your partner's fund. Contribution splitting moves a slice of your own concessional contributions, which you already claimed a benefit on, into your partner's account, and it does not generate this offset. A couple can use both in the same year to build the lower earner's balance from two directions.