Personal super contributions you want to claim as a tax deduction go at label D12 in the supplementary section of your individual tax return. In myTax, the field sits under “Other deductions” in the deductions area and is titled “Personal superannuation contributions.” On a paper return, you write the amount in the D12 boxes on the supplementary form. One thing has to happen before you enter anything there: your super fund must have received a valid notice of intent to claim the deduction and sent you a written acknowledgment.1Australian Taxation Office. myTax Personal Superannuation Contributions
Lodge the Notice of Intent With Your Fund First
You cannot put a figure at D12 and sort out the paperwork later. The ATO requires you to send your fund the approved form, “Notice of intent to claim or vary a deduction for personal super contributions” (NAT 71121), and receive their acknowledgment, before you lodge your return. The form is on the ATO website and inside most funds’ online portals.2Australian Taxation Office. Notice of Intent to Claim or Vary a Deduction for Personal Super Contributions
On the form you enter your fund name, member account number, and the exact dollar amount you intend to claim. The fund then sends back an acknowledgment letter confirming it has reclassified that amount as a concessional contribution. Keep the letter. Without it, the deduction won’t hold up.3Australian Taxation Office. Personal Super Contributions
The notice must reach the fund by whichever of these two dates comes first: the day you lodge your return for that income year, or 30 June of the following income year. For most people the real deadline is the moment they press submit on the return.4Australian Taxation Office. Notice of Intent to Claim a Deduction
If you lodged a notice for more than you actually want to claim, you can submit a variation to reduce the amount, including down to zero. You cannot increase it through a variation; for a larger claim, lodge a fresh notice for the extra amount. Variations don’t work once you’ve left the fund, once the fund no longer holds the contribution, or once an income stream has started based on that money.4Australian Taxation Office. Notice of Intent to Claim a Deduction
Entering the Amount in myTax
Sign in to myGov and open your return through ATO online services. In the deductions area, choose “Other deductions” and then “Personal superannuation contributions.” That opens the D12 field. Enter the exact dollar amount shown on your acknowledged notice of intent — this is the amount you’re claiming, not your total personal contributions for the year.1Australian Taxation Office. myTax Personal Superannuation Contributions
The field is not pre-filled. Your fund reports contributions to the ATO, but myTax does not assume you want to claim any of them. You have to type the figure in yourself. Once saved, the estimator recalculates so you can see the effect on your refund or bill before you lodge.
Entering the Amount on a Paper Return
Paper lodgers need the supplementary section of the individual tax return. D12 is not in the standard form. Under the “Deductions” heading in the supplementary form, find label D12, “Personal superannuation contributions,” and write the amount in the boxes.5Australian Taxation Office. D12 Personal Superannuation Contributions 2025
Attach the supplementary section to the main return securely before posting. If it goes missing or comes detached, the deduction won’t be processed and you’ll likely have to lodge an amendment.
Which Contributions Actually Belong at D12
Only contributions you made yourself from after-tax money go here. Anything your employer paid in, whether through the super guarantee, salary sacrifice, or another workplace arrangement, is not yours to claim. You also cannot claim downsizer contributions, rollovers from other super funds, transfers from foreign super funds, or amounts you recontributed after using the First Home Super Saver scheme.3Australian Taxation Office. Personal Super Contributions
When you claim the deduction, the contribution changes character. It becomes a concessional contribution, so the fund taxes it at 15% on the way in. That’s lower than most marginal rates but worth factoring into whether the deduction actually helps you.6Australian Taxation Office. Understanding Concessional and Non-Concessional Contributions
Age Rules
Under 75, your fund can accept voluntary contributions without a work test. But if you’re 67 to 74, you must satisfy the work test (or the work test exemption) to claim a deduction on those contributions. The work test means at least 40 hours of paid work in any consecutive 30-day period during the financial year.7Australian Taxation Office. Restrictions on Voluntary Contributions
A one-off work test exemption is available in that 67–74 range if you met the work test in the previous financial year, your total super balance was under $300,000 at the end of that previous year, and you haven’t used the exemption before. From age 75, you can only claim a deduction for contributions made before the 28th day of the month after your 75th birthday.3Australian Taxation Office. Personal Super Contributions If you’re under 18 at the end of the income year, you can only claim if you earned income as an employee or from a business during the year.
Check the Cap Before You Type the Figure
Any amount you claim at D12 counts toward your concessional contributions cap. For 2025–26 the cap is $30,000, and it also holds your employer’s super guarantee payments and any salary sacrifice. Exceed it and extra tax applies.8Australian Taxation Office. Concessional Contributions Cap
Unused cap from up to five previous years can be carried forward if your total super balance was under $500,000 at 30 June of the previous financial year. The oldest unused amounts are applied first, automatically, when you go over the standard cap.8Australian Taxation Office. Concessional Contributions Cap
If you don’t claim a deduction, the contribution stays non-concessional. The non-concessional cap for 2025–26 is $120,000, and those amounts aren’t taxed again inside the fund.9Australian Taxation Office. Non-Concessional Contributions Cap
Side Effects to Weigh Before You Lodge
The deduction lowers your taxable income. Several other calculations, though, use a broader income measure that adds your deductible personal super contributions back in. Two of them catch people out.
HELP repayment income includes reportable super contributions, and a personal contribution you’ve claimed a deduction on is a reportable super contribution. Your taxable income drops, but your compulsory HELP repayment may not drop with it. The Medicare Levy Surcharge uses a similar broader measure. For 2025–26, singles over $101,000 on that measure without private hospital cover pay the surcharge at 1% to 1.5%. Claiming a super deduction doesn’t help you clear the MLS threshold if the broader figure is still above it.10Australian Taxation Office. Medicare Levy Surcharge Income, Thresholds and Rates
Higher earners also need to think about Division 293. If your income plus concessional contributions exceeds $250,000, an extra 15% tax applies to your concessional contributions (or to the amount over the threshold, whichever is smaller). That effectively doubles the in-fund tax rate on those contributions to 30%.11Australian Taxation Office. Division 293 Tax
Lower Earners: The Co-Contribution Tradeoff
The government co-contribution only applies to personal contributions you don’t claim a deduction for. For 2025–26, you may receive up to $500 if your total income is below $62,488, with the full amount available at $47,488 or less. The government pays 50 cents per dollar contributed, up to the $500 cap.12Australian Taxation Office. Government Contributions Claiming at D12 converts the contribution to concessional and removes co-contribution eligibility for that amount, so at lower incomes it’s worth running the numbers both ways before you enter a figure.