Tax facts

Providing your employees' Tax File Numbers (TFNs) is very important.  Your employees will not be able to make member voluntary contributions or may pay more tax if Sunsuper does not have their TFNs.

Taxation laws require you to pass on TFNs of employees to Sunsuper where the employee has quoted the TFN to you.

The TFN is generally required to be quoted to the superannuation fund when you next make a superannuation contribution for the employees who quoted their TFN to you.

However, if you receive an employee's TFN within 14 days of sending your contribution for the employee, then you have up to 14 days from receiving the TFN to pass it on to the fund.

Your TFN responsibilities are to:

• respect the privacy of employees who quote you their TFN
• accept TFNs from your employee, and
• pass them on when you next make a contribution to the employee's superannuation fund.

Employer contributions

Employers can claim a full deduction for all super contributions (including salary sacrifice contributions) provided the contribution is for a period before the employee turned 75 or the employer is required to make the contribution by an industrial award, determination or notional agree preserving State awards.

Tax treatment of ETP components

An Eligible Termination Payment (ETP) is a payment that is made to an employee upon retirement, resignation, retrenchment or disablement, which receives concessional tax treatment. Employees cannot rollover any ETP's into their super fund. They must take a lump sum and pay tax. However, an ETP can be rolled over to a super fund if at 9 May 2006 there was an employment contract in existence that specified the ETP could be rolled over - that is, it meets the transitional rules which apply until 30 June 2012. These payments are then called 'Directed Termination Payments'.

For further information, visit the Australian Tax Office's website.