Private ruling: Deductibility of Personal Superannuation Contributions
Date of advice: 23 June 2016
Published: August 2016
Ruling period: Income year ended 30 June 2015.
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 2014.

Ruling: Q1: Have you satisfied the conditions in section 290-170 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 1997), a requirement for claiming a deduction for personal superannuation contributions? | A1: No

Relevant facts and circumstances: The Taxpayer is a small business owner. The Taxpayer made a contribution in June 2015 to their Superannuation Fund (the fund) and mailed a completed 'Intention to claim a tax deduction' form to the fund. The Taxpayer did not receive an acknowledgement of receipt of the notice from the fund. In 2016, the Taxpayer rolled over their super from the fund to another. After rolling over their super the Taxpayer noticed that they had not received an acknowledgement of receipt of the notice. The Taxpayer contacted both funds to rectify this but both were unable to assist them in being able to claim a deduction.

Relevant legislative provisions: Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 subsection 26-55(2), | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 section 290-150, | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 section 290-155, | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 section 290-160, | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 section 290-165, | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 section 290-170.

Reasons for decision: Detailed Reasoning - Summary of decision: As the Taxpayer did not receive an acknowledgement of receipt of the notice from the Fund the Taxpayer does not satisfy the conditions required to claim a deduction under Section 290-170(1) of the ITAA 1997. | Detailed Reasoning - Personal superannuation contributions made in the 2014-15 income year: 1. An individual can claim a deduction for personal contributions made to a superannuation fund for the purpose of providing superannuation benefits for themselves under section 290-150 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 1997), provided certain conditions are met. 2. Subsection 290-150(2) of the ITAA 1997 provides that the conditions in sections 290-155, 290-160 (if applicable), 290-165 and 290-170 of the ITAA 1997 must all be satisfied before the person can claim a deduction for the contributions made in that income year. | Detailed Reasoning - Notice of intent to deduct conditions: 3. Section 290-170 of the ITAA 1997 deals with the notice of intent to deduct contributions and states: (1) To deduct the contribution, or a part of the contribution: (a) you must give to the trustee of the fund or the RSA provider a valid notice, in the approved form, of your intention to claim the deduction; and (b) the notice must be given before: (i) if you have lodged your income tax return for the income year in which the contribution was made on a day before the end of the next income year - the end of that day; or (ii) otherwise - the end of the next income year; and (c) the trustee or provider must have given you an acknowledgment of receipt of the notice. (2) The notice is not valid if at least one of these conditions is satisfied: (a) the notice is not in respect of the contribution; (b) the notice includes all or a part of an amount covered by a previous notice; (c) when you gave the notice: (i) you were not a member of the fund or the holder of the RSA; or (ii) the trustee or RSA provider no longer holds the contribution; or (iii) the trustee or RSA provider has begun to pay a superannuation income stream based in whole or part on the contribution; (d) before you gave the notice: (i) you had made a contributions-splitting application (within the meaning given by the regulations) in relation to the contribution; and (ii) the trustee or RSA provider to which you made the application had not rejected the application. (3) The trustee or provider must, without delay, give you an acknowledgment of a valid notice, subject to subsection (4). (4) The trustee or provider may refuse to give you an acknowledgment of receipt of a valid notice if the value of the superannuation interest to which the notice relates, at the end of the day on which the trustee or RSA provider received the notice, is less than the tax that would be payable in respect of your contribution (or part of the contribution) if the trustee or provider were to acknowledge receipt of the notice. 4. This section provides that in order to deduct the contribution, you must give the trustee of the fund a valid notice in the approved form of your intention to claim the deduction. This condition has two considerations: • whether the notice is valid; and • whether the notice was in the approved form. 5. Furthermore, the notice must be given either before you lodge your income tax return, or if you have not yet lodged your income tax return before the end of the year following the year the contributions were made. 6. Subsection 290-170(3) of the ITAA 1997 provides that the trustee must , without delay , give you an acknowledgement of a valid notice. A trustee may refuse to give acknowledgment of receipt of a valid notice in the circumstances described in subsection 290-170(4) of the ITAA 1997. 7. The Fund has not acknowledged receipt of the Taxpayer's intention to claim a deduction and therefore you do not satisfy the conditions required to claim a deduction under Section 290-170(1) of the ITAA 1997.