{"id":13218,"date":"2022-01-22T12:00:34","date_gmt":"2022-01-22T01:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/?p=13218"},"modified":"2022-02-25T08:32:55","modified_gmt":"2022-02-24T21:32:55","slug":"aat-decision-on-personal-deductible-contributions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/ato\/aat-decision-on-personal-deductible-contributions\/","title":{"rendered":"AAT decision on personal deductible contributions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-12630 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/removed-watermark.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/> The AAT decision of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.austlii.edu.au\/cgi-bin\/viewdoc\/au\/cases\/cth\/AATA\/2022\/33.html\"><em>Khanna and Commissioner of Taxation<\/em> [2022] AATA 33<\/a> serves as a timely reminder regarding personal deductible superannuation contributions.<\/p>\n<p>The taxpayer (Mohan Lal Khanna) made $9,600 of personal superannuation contributions to his superannuation fund during the 2018-19 income year.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after the end of the 2018-19 income year (on 3 July 2019) he lodged his personal income tax return. He did not claim any deduction for the contributions.<\/p>\n<p>It was accepted that the taxpayer was a \u2018COVID victim\u2019. On 22 June 2020, he received a notice of redundancy from his employer.<\/p>\n<p>Only then did the taxpayer attempt to claim an income tax deduction for personal superannuation contributions in the 2018-19 income year. (Presumably this was in order to then be able to lodge an amended income tax return and claim a refund.) However, his fund said that it was not able to process the notice. This was on the basis of s\u00a0290\u2011170(1) of the <em>Income Tax Assessment Act 1997<\/em> (Cth). Section\u00a0290\u2011170(1) requires that, in order to claim a deduction for a personal superannuation contribution, a taxpayer must give to their super fund a notice of intent to deduct the contribution and the notice \u2018<strong><em>must<\/em><\/strong>\u2019 (emphasis added) be given before the earlier of:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>when they lodge personal income tax return; and<\/li>\n<li>the end of the next income year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The taxpayer argued that he should have been granted an extension to lodge his notice due to the ATO and MyGov websites advertising support for taxpayers who are affected by disaster events such as the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>However, the AAT found that the word \u2018must\u2019 indicates an obligation to comply with the notice requirements, including the statutory time limit for giving the notice. There is no discretion to extend the time or to disregard non-compliance with that time frame.<\/p>\n<p>Accordingly, the AAT held that \u2018[u]nfortunately for the [taxpayer] \u2026 he is not able to claim a tax deduction for personal superannuation contributions \u2026 because he did not submit his Notice on or before 3 July 2019.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Therefore, this decision serves as an important reminder of the strictness of the rules for deducting personal superannuation contributions.<\/p>\n<p>I am reminded of a somewhat similar decision from 11 years ago: <a href=\"https:\/\/www8.austlii.edu.au\/cgi-bin\/viewdoc\/au\/cases\/cth\/AATA\/2011\/20.html\"><em>Johnston and Commissioner of Taxation<\/em> [2011] AATA 20<\/a>. There, the taxpayer had not provided any notice to the fund, but nevertheless (via his tax agent) claimed a deduction for personal superannuation contributions. The ATO then queried the taxpayer\u2019s deduction claims. Only then did the taxpayer provide the notice to his super fund. But by then it was too late, because the time limit set by s 290-170(1). Much like the taxpayer in <em>Khanna<\/em>, the \u00a0taxpayer in <em>Johnston<\/em> was not entitled to claim a deduction. However, because the taxpayer in <em>Johnston <\/em>actually had lodged a return incorrectly claiming a deduction, the <em>Johnston <\/em>decision focused on how much penalty if any to apply. (Ultimately, no penalty was applied in <em>Johnston<\/em>.)<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, the rules regarding eligibility for claiming personal superannuation contributions are strict. Failure to comply with them \u2014 particularly the time limits \u2014 can cause a taxpayer to be ineligible to claim a deduction.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Related articles<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/contributions\/when-is-a-contribution-made\/\">When is a contribution made?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/p>\n<p>By Bryce Figot (bfigot@dbalawyers.com.au), Special Counsel DBA Lawyers<\/p>\n<p>Note: DBA Lawyers presents regular SMSF Online Updates. For more details or to register, visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dbanetwork.com.au\">www.dbanetwork.com.au<\/a> or call 03 9092 9400.<\/p>\n<p>For more information regarding how DBA Lawyers can assist in your SMSF practice, visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\">www.dbalawyers.com.au<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This article is for general information only and should not be relied upon without first seeking advice from an appropriately qualified professional.<\/p>\n<p>19\u00a0January 2022<\/p>\n<div class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/ato\/aat-decision-on-personal-deductible-contributions\/?pfstyle=wp\" rel=\"nofollow\"  title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF & Email\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"pf-button-img\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.printfriendly.com\/buttons\/printfriendly-pdf-button.png\" alt=\"Print Friendly, PDF & Email\" style=\"width: 112px;height: 24px;\"  \/><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The AAT decision of Khanna and Commissioner of Taxation [2022] AATA 33 serves as a timely reminder regarding personal deductible superannuation contributions. The taxpayer (Mohan Lal Khanna) made $9,600 of personal superannuation contributions to his superannuation fund during the 2018-19 income year. Shortly after the end of the 2018-19 income year (on 3 July 2019) [<a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/ato\/aat-decision-on-personal-deductible-contributions\/\">read more<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":13219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,26,95,33,40],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[136],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>AAT decision on personal deductible contributions | Leading SMSF Law Firm<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The AAT decision of Khanna and Commissioner of Taxation [2022] AATA 33 serves as a timely reminder regarding personal deductible superannuation contributions.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/ato\/aat-decision-on-personal-deductible-contributions\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bryce Figot\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/ato\/aat-decision-on-personal-deductible-contributions\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/ato\/aat-decision-on-personal-deductible-contributions\/\",\"name\":\"AAT decision on personal deductible contributions | Leading SMSF Law Firm\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/ato\/aat-decision-on-personal-deductible-contributions\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/ato\/aat-decision-on-personal-deductible-contributions\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/removed-watermark.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-22T01:00:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-24T21:32:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/#\/schema\/person\/21df751f40981297a0f6417071b6a63e\"},\"description\":\"The AAT decision of Khanna and Commissioner of Taxation [2022] AATA 33 serves as a timely reminder regarding personal deductible superannuation contributions.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/ato\/aat-decision-on-personal-deductible-contributions\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/ato\/aat-decision-on-personal-deductible-contributions\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/removed-watermark.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/removed-watermark.png\",\"width\":1300,\"height\":867},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/\",\"name\":\"DBA Lawyers\",\"description\":\"Leading SMSF Law Firm\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/#\/schema\/person\/21df751f40981297a0f6417071b6a63e\",\"name\":\"Bryce Figot\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/a9a812be4056bdc150ca270634702d72\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/bryce.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/bryce.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Bryce Figot\"},\"description\":\"Bryce is also recognised as one of Australia's leading SMSF lawyers. He has worked predominantly in the fields of tax and superannuation over the past 17 years and holds a Master of Laws from the University of Melbourne. Bryce is a regular seminar presenter on tax and SMSF topics and has published extensively in these areas. Bryce regularly presents for the major professional bodies including the SMSF Association, CPA Australia The Tax Institute, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and DBA Network. Bryce is regularly quoted and published in the Australian Financial Review, the Herald Sun, CCH and LexisNexis publications, and elsewhere in the financial press. Bryce wrote the book Complete Guide to SMSFs: Planning for Loss of Capacity and Death, published by CCH Wolters Kluwer. Bryce is on the editorial panel of LexisNexis' Australian Superannuation Law Bulletin. He is a Senior Fellow at the University of Melbourne's Law School, where he is the subject coordinator of Taxation of Superannuation. 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He has worked predominantly in the fields of tax and superannuation over the past 17 years and holds a Master of Laws from the University of Melbourne. Bryce is a regular seminar presenter on tax and SMSF topics and has published extensively in these areas. Bryce regularly presents for the major professional bodies including the SMSF Association, CPA Australia The Tax Institute, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and DBA Network. Bryce is regularly quoted and published in the Australian Financial Review, the Herald Sun, CCH and LexisNexis publications, and elsewhere in the financial press. Bryce wrote the book Complete Guide to SMSFs: Planning for Loss of Capacity and Death, published by CCH Wolters Kluwer. Bryce is on the editorial panel of LexisNexis' Australian Superannuation Law Bulletin. He is a Senior Fellow at the University of Melbourne's Law School, where he is the subject coordinator of Taxation of Superannuation. 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Bryce regularly presents for the major professional bodies including the SMSF Association, CPA Australia The Tax Institute, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and DBA Network.\r\nBryce is regularly quoted and published in the Australian Financial Review, the Herald Sun, CCH and LexisNexis publications, and elsewhere in the financial press. Bryce wrote the book Complete Guide to SMSFs: Planning for Loss of Capacity and Death, published by CCH Wolters Kluwer. Bryce is on the editorial panel of LexisNexis' Australian Superannuation Law Bulletin. He is a Senior Fellow at the University of Melbourne's Law School, where he is the subject coordinator of Taxation of Superannuation.\r\nBryce is a Specialist SMSF Advisor\u2122 as well as being a Chartered Tax Adviser."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13218"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13218"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13307,"href":"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13218\/revisions\/13307"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13218"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=13218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}