Superannuation Articles

Income Stream Commutation     Voluntarily Commuting an Income Stream Income stream commutation rules are outlined in the SIS Regulations. A member of a superannuation fund may elect to commence an income stream (most commonly, an account based pension) once a...

Total Superannuation Balance   What is Total Superannuation Balance?Total superannuation balance is the method used to value an individual’s total superannuation interests for taxation purposes. Superannuation interests refers to a member’s interests in...

Transfer Balance Cap What is the transfer balance cap? The transfer balance cap imposes a limit on the amount of capital that can be held in retirement phase in order to support a retirement phase superannuation income stream (also commonly referred to as a...

Super Death Benefit   A superannuation death benefit is a payment from a super fund to a person or to a trustee of a deceased estate after the member has died. The tax treatment of a super death benefit is based on: whether the recipient of the death benefit is a...

Ordinary Time Earnings   What is ordinary time earnings? Ordinary time earnings (OTE) is the amount paid to employees for their ordinary hours of work. OTE includes payments such as commissions and shift loadings. Employers use: Ordinary time earnings to work out...

Super Contributions   Super guarantee contributions Employers are required to pay super guarantee (SG) contributions for their employees. For the 2023-24 financial year, employers are required to contribute 11% of their employees’ ordinary time earnings into super....

Super Guarantee Charge   The superannuation guarantee charge (SGC) is applied where an employer fails to meet super guarantee obligations either by paying employee superannuation entitlements late or not at all. Who is an employee for SGC purposes? An ‘employee’...