If a member notifies your fund that they intend to claim an income tax deduction for personal super contributions, then this is a concessional contribution. This means it must be included in the assessable income of your fund.

To notify the fund, members must use the Notice of intent to claim or vary a deduction for personal super contributions form, NAT 71121.

The member must give you the notice by the earlier of:

• the time they lodge their personal income tax return for the financial year during which the contribution was made, or
• the end of the financial year following the year the contribution was made.

If one of the following events occur that includes the intended deductible contribution the member will need to give their notice to you even earlier.  These events include:

• starting a pension from their SMSF
• drawing a lump sum from their accumulation account in their SMSF
• rolling over the benefits in their accumulation account to another super fund
• splitting their contributions with their spouse.

Members need to tell you of their plan to claim a deduction before any of these events happen. If they don’t, they will not be able to claim a deduction for the personal contributions they made.

The member can vary their notice of intent to claim a deduction, but only to reduce the amount stated in the notice. The member can reduce the amount, including to nil, but they can't revoke or withdraw the notice.

If the member wishes to increase the amount of the deduction, they will need to lodge another notice specifying the additional amount they wish to claim.

As the fund trustee you must acknowledge the member's notice of intent without delay. This acknowledgement must include specific information to ensure members can claim the deductions they're entitled to, and that super co-contributions and excess contributions tax are correctly applied.