R1, R2, R3, R6, R Assessable contributions

The assessable contributions questions are:

• R1 Assessable employer contributions
• R2 Assessable personal contributions
• R3 No-TFN-quoted contributions
• R6 Transfer of liability to life insurance company or PST
• R Assessable contributions.

Did the SMSF have assessable contributions?

No	Leave R1, R2 and R6 blank. Answer R3 and R.
Yes	Read on.

Include at R1, R2, R3 and R6 all contributions to the SMSF that are assessable income.

The following types of contributions are not part of the SMSF’s assessable income, do not include them at R1, R2, R3 or R6:

• contributions made by a member that are not assessable personal contributions
• super co-contributions and low income super contribution
• contributions for a person under 18 which are not made by, or on behalf of, the person’s employer
• amounts transferred to the SMSF for a member from the member's spouse's super as a result of a contributions splitting arrangement (for more information see Contributions splitting)
• amounts transferred to the SMSF from another super fund because of a family law obligation (such as a super agreement or a Family Law Court order as a result of a marriage or relationship breakdown)
• spouse contributions for which the contributor cannot claim a deduction.

Legislation

Subdivision 295-C of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997External Link

Contributions caps

Caps apply to contributions made to a member’s super account. Members that contribute more than these caps may have to pay extra tax. For more information on the contributions caps, see Super contributions – too much super can mean extra tax.

R1 Assessable employer contributions

Did the SMSF receive assessable employer contributions?

No	Leave R1 blank. Go to R2.
Yes	Read on.

Write at R1 the total of all assessable contributions received by the SMSF for members where the contribution was made by someone other than the member. The amount at R1 should not be reduced by any loss or outgoing related to the income.

Assessable employer contributions received in 2016–17 must be included at R1 even if they were not allocated to the member’s account until the following financial year.

The amount at R1 includes:

• contributions paid by an employer (including amounts contributed under effective salary sacrifice arrangements) to    
  • a complying SMSF
  • a non-complying SMSF that is an Australian super fund
  • an SMSF that is not an Australian super fund where the contributions relate to a period when the member was an Australian resident, or was a foreign resident deriving employment or similar income, such as salary or wage income, that is subject to Australian withholding payment rules
   
• shortfall amounts paid by us to a complying SMSF under the provisions of the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992
• amounts transferred by us from the Superannuation Holding Account special account to a complying SMSF under the provisions of the Small Superannuation Accounts Act 1995, other than amounts which represent super co-contributions or low income super contributions
• most amounts contributed for a member by other third parties (the total of any amounts written at G Other third party contributions in Sections F and G).

Do not include contributions received for a member who has not quoted their TFN and that you are required to include at R3 No-TFN-quoted contributions.

Assessable contributions from employers or other third parties are not exempt from income tax under the exempt current pension income rules.

R2 Assessable personal contributions

Did the SMSF receive assessable personal contributions?

No	Leave R2 blank. Go to R3.
Yes	Read on.

Write at R2 the total of:

• assessable personal contributions
• any untaxed element of a rollover super benefit, up to the untaxed plan cap amount ($1.415 million in 2016–17).

The amount of a rollover super benefit with an untaxed element is included in the income year in which it is received by the SMSF.

The amount at R2 should not be reduced by any loss or outgoing related to the income.

Assessable personal contributions received in 2016–17 must be included at R2 even if they were not allocated to the member’s account until the following financial year.

Personal contributions are assessable only if the member has provided a valid notice stating their intent to claim a deduction for their contributions and the SMSF trustee has acknowledged receipt of the notice. The contribution is included in the income year in which it is received if the SMSF trustee receives the notice by the time the SMSF lodges its annual return for that income year. Otherwise the contribution is included in the income year in which the notice is received. For information about deductions for a personal super contribution, see Notice of intent to claim or vary a deduction for personal super contributions.

If the SMSF receives a notice varying the amount of a previous valid Notice of intent to claim a deduction for personal super contributions and:

• you have not yet lodged the annual return that includes the contribution as assessable income, write at R2 the reduced amount of the personal contribution, or
• you have already lodged an annual return that included the contribution as assessable income,

then you can either:

• amend the annual return for the income year that included the contribution as assessable income, or
• deduct an amount at L1 Other amounts in Section C, in the income year the SMSF received the notice varying the amount.

Assessable personal contributions are not exempt from income tax under the exempt current pension income rules.

For more information, see Notice of intent to claim or vary a deduction for personal super contributions.

R3 No-TFN-quoted contributions

Did the SMSF receive employer contributions for a member that has not provided their TFN to the SMSF?

No	Write 0 (zero) at R3. Go to R6.
Yes	Read on.

Write at R3 the total of all assessable contributions that the SMSF received in 2016–17 for all members who had not quoted their tax file number (TFN) and where:

• a member's account was opened on or after 1 July 2007 or
• a member's total assessable contributions for 2016–17 were more than $1,000.

The amount at R3 should not be reduced by any loss or outgoing related to the income.

Do not include employer contributions at R3 if:

• the member's account was opened before 1 July 2007, and
• the member's total assessable contributions for 2016–17 are $1,000 or less (include these employer contributions at R1 Employer contributions).

R3 is mandatory. If you leave R3 blank, you will have specified a zero amount.

Tax on no-TFN-quoted contributions

The SMSF has to pay additional tax on no-TFN-quoted contributions. This additional tax must be paid regardless of any tax offsets or amounts the SMSF may have transferred to a life insurance company or PST. See table 4 for the tax rates.

Table 4: Tax rates on no-TFN-quoted contributions

SMSF status	Tax rate (on all assess-able contributions)	Additional tax rate (on no-TFN-quoted contributions)	Overall tax rate (on no-TFN-quoted contributions)
Complying	15%	34%	49%
Non-complying	47%	2%	49%

The SMSF will show in Section D: Income tax calculation statement:

• the tax payable (at the standard rate of income tax) on the no-TFN-quoted contributions at T1 Tax on taxable income
• the additional tax payable on the no-TFN-quoted contributions at J Tax on no-TFN-quoted contributions.

No-TFN-quoted contributions are not exempted from income tax under the exempt current pension income rules.

If a member provided their TFN to the SMSF for the first time in 2016–17, the SMSF may be able to recover the no-TFN-quoted contributions tax it paid in one of the most recent three income years ending before 2016–17 by claiming a no-TFN tax offset. For information on whether the SMSF is able to claim this offset, see E2 No-TFN tax offset.

Legislation

Section 295-610 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997

R6 Transfer of liability to life insurance company or PST

Did the SMSF transfer an amount to a life insurance company or pooled superannuation trust (PST) under an agreement that meets the requirements of section 295-260 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997?

No	Leave R6 blank. Go to R.
Yes	Read on.

Write at R6 the total amount that would otherwise have been included in the complying SMSF's assessable income for the 2016–17 income year that the trustee of the SMSF (the transferor) has agreed to transfer to a life insurance company or PST (the transferee) under an agreement with that transferee entity. The amount at R6 should not be reduced by any loss or outgoing related to the income.

The SMSF will not pay tax (at the rate of 15%) on the amount transferred to the life insurance company or PST. The amount of the income transferred is included in the transferee’s assessable income instead. However, if a contribution is a no-TFN-quoted contribution, the SMSF must still pay tax on the no-TFN-quoted contribution (at the rate of 34%); the SMSF cannot transfer the tax liability on the no-TFN quoted contribution income.

Keep all relevant documents as evidence of the transferee’s consent to accept the transfer of assessable contributions and the associated tax liability.

Legislation

Section 295-260 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997

R Assessable contributions

Did you write amounts at R1, R2, R3 or R6?

No	Leave R blank. Go to S.
Yes	Read on.

Write at R the total assessable contributions received by the SMSF. That total should not be reduced by any loss or outgoing related to the income.

To work out the amount you write at R:

• add the amounts you wrote, at    
  • R1 Assessable employer contributions
  • R2 Assessable personal contributions
  • R3 No-TFN-quoted contributions  
   
• deduct from that amount    
  • R6 Transfer of liability to life insurance company or PST.
   

Assessable contributions are not exempt from income tax under the exempt current pension income rules.