Commonwealth contributions surcharge

If you have an outstanding surcharge tax debt, the balance of your debt and changes to your account will be shown on your Annual Statement.

The superannuation contributions surcharge ("surcharge") is a Commonwealth Government tax that was levied on surchargeable superannuation contributions of higher income individuals in the financial years from 1997 to 2005.

The surcharge was calculated using your 'adjusted taxable income' for a financial year. If your adjusted taxable income exceeded a minimum threshold in a financial year, the surcharge applied to your surchargeable contributions.

The Commonwealth legislation has been amended to effectively remove any new surcharge assessments in respect of employer superannuation contributions made for employer-financed benefits accruing to members after 30 June 2005.

However, surcharge remains payable in respect of any surcharge liability that existed at 30 June 2005, and any subsequent ATO surcharge assessments in respect of surchargeable contributions up to 30 June 2005.

For additional information please see STC Fact Sheet 1: Information about the Commonwealth contributions surcharge.