From 1 July 2017 the eligibility requirements for individuals to claim a tax deduction on personal contributions to super have been relaxed, which extends this option to individuals that did not meet the previous definition of ‘substantially self-employed’. This measure improves access to superannuation concessions for those who may be self-employed on a part time basis or if their employer does not offer salary sacrifice.
The new eligibility requirement does not allow members of a defined benefit fund to claim a tax deduction where the fund notifies the ATO before the start of an income year that the fund has elected to treat all member contributions to the fund as non-deductible. STC has made an election to make member contributions to SASS, SSS and PSS non-deductible for the 2017/2018 income year as the rules of the fund do not currently provide for contributions to be deductible and the option to salary sacrifice member contributions is available to members across all funds.