Private ruling: Timing of superannuation contributions
Published: May 2014
Ruling period: Year ending 30 June 2014
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 2013

Ruling: Q1: Can the contributions referred to in your private ruling application be treated as received in the 2012-13 financial year? | A1: No

Relevant facts and circumstances: You are the trustee and member of the Fund, a complying self-managed superannuation fund. You intended to make total contributions of X for yourself and your spouse to the Fund in the 2012-13 financial year. On 30 June 2013 you made a total bank transfer of X to the Fund's bank account. The Fund's bank has confirmed that there were sufficient funds available for the transfers which were initiated on the 30 June 2013. The Fund's bank stated that as 30 June 2013 was a Sunday and not a business day, the transfer itself was not completed on that day, but on the next business day.


Reasons for decision: Summary: The transfers to the Fund initiated on 30 June 2013 are not considered to be contributions made in the 2012-13 financial year. This is because the monies transferred were not received and available to be used by the Fund on or before 30 June 2013. | Detailed Reasoning - Detailed reasoning: Taxation Ruling TR 2010/1 states: ' a contribution is anything of value that increases the capital of a superannuation fund provided by a person whose purpose is to benefit one or more particular members of the fund or all of the members in general.' Hence a contribution counts in the financial year in which the capital of your superannuation fund is increased, which is when the money was received by the Fund. The facts provided by your bank show that funds were available for transfer from your personal account to the Fund on 30 June 2013. However, as the 30 June 2013 was a Sunday and not a business day, the transfer was not completed on the same day. This means that your superannuation fund has not actually received the money, although the transfer had been initiated. ATO policy states that it is up to the member to keep track of contributions they make to their superannuation account. It would be reasonable to expect that you would be aware internet bank transfers may not be completed on the day it was initiated, especially if the transfer was initiated on a Sunday, which is not a business day. It can therefore be concluded that while you initiated the transfers and intended them to be superannuation contributions in the 2012-13 financial year, they had not been received in the Fund's account in the 2012-13 financial year. As a result, your contributions totalling X cannot be considered to have been made in the 2012-13 financial year.