A taxpayer has been unsuccessful before the AAT in arguing for relief from the Commissioner’s imposition of excess non-concessional contributions tax.
- The taxpayer had contributed $430,000 into his super fund account in the 2007-08 financial year.
- However, in September 2008 and in response to the global financial crisis, the taxpayer withdrew half the money.
- In September 2009, the taxpayer then re-deposited id=”mce_marker”00,000 back into his super account.
The Commissioner said the taxpayer exceeded the $450,000 contributions limit when he made the id=”mce_marker”00,000 payment within the 3-year period under the bring forward rule. The Commissioner issued an excess contributions tax assessment on the $80,000 excess.
The taxpayer argued the statute should be interpreted in a way that only catches net contributions that exceed the cap. Alternatively, he argued there were special circumstances warranting the Commissioner’s discretion under s 292-465 of the ITAA 1997 to ignore the contribution, or treat it like it had been made in different period.
The Tribunal affirmed the Commissioner’s decision. It said s 292-90 of the ITAA 1997, which explains how to calculate non-concessional contributions in a given year refers to “each” contribution and not the net contributions made. It also held the situation did not enliven the discretion sought by the taxpayer under s 292-465.
(AAT Case [2013] AATA 577, Re KFBC and FCT, AAT, Ref No: 2013/1346, McCabe SM, 16 August 2013.)
[LTN 159, 19/8/13]