What is the low income super tax offset?
If you earn up to $37,000 a year, you may be eligible to receive a low income super tax offset (LISTO) payment of up to $500.
You don't need to do anything to receive a LISTO payment. Just make sure your super fund has your tax file number (TFN). Without your TFN, your super fund can't accept a LISTO payment.
The LISTO is 15% of the concessional (before tax) super contributions you or your employer pays into your super fund up to a maximum of $500. This is designed to ensure that low-income earners generally don't pay more tax on their super contributions than on their take-home pay.
Eligibility
You're eligible for the LISTO if you satisfy all of the following requirements:
- you or your employer pay concessional (before tax) contributions (including super guarantee amounts) for the year to a complying super fund
- you earn $37,000 or less a year – to work out your eligibility, we use your actual or estimated adjusted taxable income)
- you have not held a temporary resident visa at any time during the income year (note that New Zealand citizens in Australia are eligible for the payment)
- you lodge a tax return and 10% or more of your total income comes from business and/or employment, or you don't lodge a tax return and 10% or more of your total income comes from your employment.
If you're a low-income earner, you can also receive super co-contributions when you make personal (after tax) super payments.
Example: working out LISTO eligibility
Julie earns $32,000 a year as a childcare assistant. In the 2022–23 financial year, Julie’s employer makes a super guarantee contribution of $3,360 into her super fund. Julie lodges an income tax return which includes tax deductions of $1,000, resulting in an adjusted taxable income of $31,000 ($32,000−$1,000).
As Julie meets all the eligibility criteria, she is entitled to a LISTO of $500 (as 15% of $3,360 is greater than $500) paid into her super fund
End of exampleLISTO and deceased estates
If a person dies, their estate may be entitled to the LISTO.
Eligibility for the LISTO is worked out using the eligibility criteria described above, but the income tests are applied as if the person had continued to earn income at the same rate for the entire year.
You can apply to have the payment made directly to the estate using the Application for payment of ATO-held superannuation money.
Estimating your LISTO
You can work out your LISTO either:
- using our online calculator
- manually by multiplying your concessional super contributions for the financial year by 0.15, rounding to the nearest cent.
The maximum payment you can receive for a financial year is $500 and the minimum is $10 – but if you're eligible for less than $10, we will round this up to $10.
How we pay your LISTO
Make sure your super fund has your TFN (check to see if it's quoted on your member statement). Without your TFN, your super fund cannot accept a LISTO payment.
If you lodge a tax return, your LISTO will be paid directly into your super fund account based on your tax return and information from your super fund.
If you don't lodge a tax return, we will work out your eligibility using information from your super fund and other sources, and pay your LISTO directly to the fund.
If you've reached your super preservation age and are retired, you can apply to have your LISTO paid directly to you.
To request a direct payment, you can use ATO online services. Select Super then Manage then Withdraw ATO-held super.
Alternatively, you can complete an Application for payment of ATO-held superannuation money (NAT 74880).
How the low income super tax offset (LISTO) payment helps low-income earners boost their retirement savings.