Nick Bruining: myGov’s secret weapon for instant access to everything you need to know about your super funds

Accountants and financial advisers regularly field questions from their clients, asking for details about how much they can contribute to superannuation and how close they might be to the various limits. The information is sometimes delivered with an account for the time spent digging up the details and, invariably, it takes a couple of days to gather the data and to share it with a client. Few people are aware of an Australian Tax Office resource anyone can access that instantly provides individuals with precise details on contributions, balances and, importantly, how close they are to the various annual thresholds. It’s particularly useful for those with multiple superannuation funds because it gathers all the information from all of your funds and presents it in one place. Accessed via the myGov portal, you’ll need to be linked to the ATO service, which you can do with information stuffed in your filing cabinet at home. Identification will require your normal personal information but also copies of previous income tax assessment notices and bank statements. While the service can be mainly used to lodge and manage tax returns, the second tab marked “superannuation” hides a treasure trove of up-to-date information held by the ATO. It includes contributions made, differentiating between the tax-deductible concessional contributions and the non-concessional contributions. Importantly, it tells you how much you have left before you hit the caps and it allows you to easily work out your limits under the five-year carry-over rules for concessional contributions and the three-year bring-forward rules for non-concessional payments. For those with large super balances, the service shows the total balance which will form the basis of the new 15 per cent extra tax, expected to apply from 2025. You can also see your employer’s contributions to the fund, listed in date order. It will highlight whether your employer makes super contributions on a regular basis or if they apply the current rule that states that quarterly super contributions need to be made by the 28th day following the end of a quarter. Finally, the service allows you to compare your fund to a range of other MySuper funds. The table shows fees, performance and other information on 64 different funds and calculates specific values based on your balance. Just be aware that the MySuper option is the default investment setting for most employer super funds and may not apply to your fund, particularly if you are under the wing of a financial adviser. It can also help in transferring or consolidating your existing accounts.