Dear Community,
I am a non‑Australian tax resident. My Australian bank has already deducted 10% withholding tax on my Australian bank interest income. I then used that interest income to make a concessional contribution to my own superannuation account.
Can I ever get a refund of that 10% interest withholding tax in this situation?
If a refund is possible, what is the correct process and form I should use to claim it?
Best regards,
O.
My Australian bank has already deducted 10% withholding tax on my Australian bank interest income. I then used that interest income to make a concessional contribution to my own superannuation account, which was taxed at 15% at the super fund level.
This means the same interest income has been taxed approximately 25% (10% + 15%) in Australia.
If you haven't lodged a tax return see if you can make a variation of your notice of intent (NOI) to claim a tax deduction. Get your 15% back.
Notice of intent to claim a deduction | Australian Taxation Office
Thanks for the NOI advice, but I already have NOI and my contribution is already concessional (15% tax paid).
My question is only about whether the 10% interest withholding tax from the bank (separate from super contribution tax) can be refunded.
Is there any way for a non-resident to get that 10% back?
Taxduck is correct - you need to try and amend your NOI (there is a separate section on the form form amending a previously lodged NOI) and get your concessional contribution changed to a non-concessional contribution to enable the super fund to reverse the 15% contributions tax. The 10% non resident withholding tax is a final tax and no deductions are allowed against that income.
Thank you for your suggestion! @TaxTalk1234 @Taxduck
However, I prefer to keep using the concessional contribution cap rather than switching to non-concessional. Before as a tax resident, I usually used the concessional cap.
Two confirmation questions:
1. If I reverse the 15% contributions tax, does this $30K become a non-concessional contribution? Or does it still count toward my concessional cap?
2. If I keep the 15% super tax (stay concessional), can I lodge a tax return as a non-resident at financial year-end and use the super deduction to get back the 10% withholding tax from bank interest?
Goal: Use up $30K concessional cap while maximizing 10% refund. Non-residents who wish to continue making concessional super contributions lack motivation to save in Australia if the 10% withholding tax is non-refundable.
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