13 Jul 2011
The Government has introduced a temporary flood levy for the 2011-12 financial year to help with the rebuilding of flood-affected regions across Australia. The levy will apply to all Australians with a taxable income of more than $50,000 in the 2011-12 financial year. The amount of extra tax you’ll be required to pay will depend on your income and is detailed below.
Anyone who earns over $50,000 but who has also received an Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment or is a New Zealand citizen who has received an ex-gratia payment from Centrelink before June 30 2012 for a natural disaster that occurred in the period 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011 will be exempt from paying the levy.
If you are exempt from paying the levy you should complete the Flood levy exemption declaration form (NAT 73797) and it to your employer. It you are exempt and forget to fill in the form, any extra tax you pay will be refunded to you when you lodge your tax return. The Flood levy exemption declaration form may be mailed to you by the ATO but will also be available at newsagencies, on the ATO website, or from the ATO ordering service (please call 1300 720 092).
The flood levy will be applied to all lump sum payments to members under age 60 if the payment has a taxable component over $50,000. This is regardless of whether your benefit has a zero rate of tax because for tax purposes, this amount is considered taxable income by the government.
If the taxable portion of your Prime Super income stream payments exceeds $50,000 in the 2011-12 financial year, then the flood levy will automatically be included in the tax withheld from your income stream payments by Prime Super.
However, if you are to receive a lump sum or income stream payments are you are exempt from paying the flood levy, you should complete the Flood levy exemption form and send it back to us.
If the flood levy is applied to your income stream and the ATO finds that you are exempt, then the tax withheld for the levy will be refunded to you by the ATO after you lodge your 2011-12 tax return.
Call us on 1800 675 839 or contact the ATO on 13 28 65.
Contact your local representative
The advice contained on the Prime Super website does not take into account your particular objectives, needs or financial situation. Before making a decision regarding the acquisition or disposal of a financial product, you should assess whether the advice is appropriate to your objectives, needs or financial situation. You may wish to make this assessment yourself or seek the help of an adviser. Prime Super takes no responsibility for you acting on the information provided. Any decision that you make is at your own risk. Before acquiring a financial product you should obtain a Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) relating to that product and consider the contents of the PDS before making a decision about whether to acquire the product.
Issued by the Trustee: Prime Super Pty Ltd ABN 81 067 241 016 AFSL No. 219723 RSE Licence No. L0000277 Prime Super ABN 60 562 335 823; RN 1000276