Usually kasama sa salary package yung superannuation. 9% ng annual salary mo yun ang minimum superannuation. Basahin mo mabuti yung details ng contract mo kung kasama. Hanapin mo din sa contract mo kung sagot din nila private health insurance mo like medibank usually sagot ng company yan. Nandun lahat ang kasagutan sa contract na pinirmahan mo. Goodluck. Cheers.

Salamat @TotoyOZresident & @aolee sa mga inputs nyo :) Yes, stated sa contract ko na inclusive ung super ko.. I've just heard sa mga ibang nandyan na, ndi daw inclusive ung super nila sa package.. maswerte lng siguro sila kung gnun..hehehe

hehe kakainggit talaga ng superannuation!

Normally kasama sa salary package niyo yung +9% ng annual gross niyo as retirement money...ang tawag po dun super guarantee.

Taxed at 15% lahat ng pinapasok sa superannuation kaya yung ibang employees pinapa-awas sa employer yung parte ng suweldo nila para mas malaki natatabi nila (i.e. kung $5,000 gross monthly ka...puwede mo inegotiate na $4,000 na lang ang gross mo na taxable at marginal rate, tapos yung $1,000 taxed at 15% tapos deretso na sa superannuation mo)...Puwede iinvest ang superannuation sa stocks, real estate or bonds so imagine niyo na lang anlaki ng growth ng pera dun :)

So to answer @nahzd's question, by default, absorbed ng company yang extra +9% pero maraming employees sa Australia ang nagkukusa din magpasok ng pera dun kasi daming advantages :)

mayron ding ganyan sa contract ko @ 9%, possible kayang idagdag na lang sa sahod yun para diretso na? hehe. para sa mga hindi nagbabalak magstay for good sa OZ or after ng job contract balik pinas?

Reply to @LokiJr:

hehe salamat sir, inaalam lang ang options. Sayang din kasi kung sana pwede mong madala sa pamilya mo yun kung yearly ka uuwi. pero sa isang banda, maganda rin na maipon ang pera para kung sakaling permanently staying for good ulit sa pinas, may madudukot ka. hay tagal ng visa ko hehe.

LokiJr said:

@hilikus, bawal po e hehe...ganun batas nila...kung nirequest mo kunin yung 9% as salary, required pa rin ang employer niyo, by law, na magbigay ng 9% para sa superannuation hehe...

May provision naman sa superannuation na pag permanently iiwan niyo na ang Australia, puwede niyo na kunin yung perang natabi sa super (taxed nga lang)

Tanong ko lang po, what's salary sacrifice?

I have to choose kasi, it states in my contract, for superannuation between after and before tax? Saan po ba mas advantage? Alin po dito yung salary sacrifice?

Salamat po ng madami!

@LokiJr: Sir, sinagot niyo na po ako sa kabilang thread, thanks ng madami!

Nilagay nila at a defaut rate of 5% ang personal contribution. But payag naman babaan. It's too high talaga, di pa ako ready haha! 2% is a better number for now. Also, sa kagustuhan ko maintindihan ang salary packaging, I asked from SomPak (company that handles salary packaging), and they sent me all these booklets. I asked around from other colleagues also. Although hindi din sila clear on a lot of terms.

Pwede ba magtanong dito? 8->

@Nadine, sure sure...line of work ko yan kaya go lang hehe...Hindi ko mahanap yung lumang thread kaya naisipan ko dito na lang sumagot hehe

@falcon Yes, you can nominate who your beneficiary is in the event of your death...In fact, you should have someone nominated otherwise your superannuation fund may become invalid in the future. The nomination process is very simple, just call your provider and they will ask you to fill out a form :)

You can change your beneficiary anytime but the person has to be a family-dependant of yours.

Nadine said:

Sir @LokiJr, hindi ko agad-agad na post mga questions ko because I actually re-read the SomPak leaflets. Para naman hindi masyadong nakakahiya pag nagtanong nako. X_X

Anyway, this is about the walang-kamatayang "Salary Sacrifice". Hindi talaga siya mawala sa isip ko eh. I tried taking your advice to disregard it for now, but I couldn't! Pasensiya na po kayo, tao lang. Hehe.

The way I understand it, it is a way to substantially decrease tax levied on my annual salary. Q1: When they say annual, base or guaranteed? Magkaiba eh. Which is which po ba?

Ang ginagawa pala is that you can nominate a certain portion of your salary na diretso pambayad to bills, rental, meal entertainment etc. Even the super can be salary-sacrificed. So, parang tinatanggal yun automatically every 2 weeks. In essence, bumababa ang actual sahod na ma-tax. Q2: Eto po ba sinasabi niyong pre tax concession? Ang tagal kong nakuha to. Feeling ko nasagot nako before eh, but I didn't get it then.

Which leads me to Q3. If that's concessional, so what's non-concessional?

Q4. Still on salary sacrifice. May mga work related items daw pwede submit like books, exam fee, registration fees, etc. Submit receipt for example 1000$ worth of exam fees. Kukunin nila 1k sa gross salary at deposit sa bank account without getting taxed. If 30% ang tax, in essence, 300$ ang na save?

Q5. Sir LokiJr, kung mag contribute daw ako ng 5% to super, employer daw 12.75. Pero kung babaan ko, bababa din sila. But cannot be less than 9%, tama po ba? Kasi nasa batas nila to? Why do you think I'm required to contribute at all??? Because I'm not PR and I need to save?! Haha!

Also (which is Q6 already): yung 12.75 employer-share po kukunin sa salary or over and above the annual? Hindi ako sure kung nasagot na to dito sa thread. You guys seem to be discussing just that pero hindi ako sigurado sa sagot. Sorry na.

Thanks po sa kakulitan ko! :D

Hi Nadine, puede mo naman makuha ang salary sacrifice mo kung sakali umalis kana sa Australia pati lahat ng mga contribution mo sa superannuation. Yung salary sacrifice mo additonal sa superannuation ng 9%. Puede ka mag add ng like 5% ng salary mo. Kung naguguluhan ka naman hwag ka na mag salary sacrifice.

About sa tax naman yup puede mo i declare sa tax mo na related sa work mo ang mga nabili mo like lap top, books ang pagkaalam ko minimum or maximum ng 1500 ang nagastos mo na puede mo ideclare. Im not sure pa itabi mo lang ang mga resibo. The best is pagdating mo sa Australia hanap ka ng accountant maganda by July kasi start ng lodge ng tax return ang month na yan. Ang fees mga nasa $120 to 140. Mabuti na yung nasa tama ang pag lodge ng tax mo mahirap magkamali sa una.

Goodluck.

@totoyozresident: Ah ok. Oo nga, in terms of tax, kakailanganin ko nga ng professional advice by June or July (end of fiscal year, right?). Salamat po, I'll do that.

@LokiJr: Kasi paraan siya para bumaba sa income bracket. Lesser income, lesser tax. That's why. Sayang din ang matitipid, kaya gusto ko maintindihan. To make an informed decision. I'll figure out the rest na lang as I go along. Thanks anyway. P.S. Actually you can salary sacrifice books etc. At least that's what those leaflets say. As long as you're paying for it and not the employer.

Hi, this topic is actually very helpful and should be looked by our fellow forumers here who intend or has relocated to Australia.

Most of new migrants and even other established migrants in Australia are not aware of some schemes that are helpful in reducing their annual tax expenses from employment and other income. Actually even some Australians, without the help of tax practitioners, are not aware of these schemes. One of these is the "salary sacrifice" which I will be discussing in this post.

Salary sacrifice is forgoing a part of your employment income on a permanent basis in order to receive a lower salary that will be subjected to income tax at the end of the income tax year. Though this can be agreed verbally, it is advised by the Australian Tax Office to have this agreement in writing in order that both parties will have a reference if needed in the future.

Depending on the agreement between the employee and employer, the employee will be entitled to receive other benefits such as fringe benefits, exempt benefits, and superannuation in lieu of the portion of the forgone salary.

Fringe benefits may be in the form of cars, property, or expense payments (loan repayments, school fees, etc.) that the company may provide to the employee in exchange for the salary sacrificed by the said employee. These benefits are not taxable as compensation income by the Australian Tax Office but is taxable as fringe benefits tax against the employer thus the prospective employer may have some reservations in providing these to employees.

On the other hand, exempt benefits are exempt from fringe benefits tax and are considered as work-related expenses. These may be expenses for the purchase of electronic devices, books, clothes, etc. that are used by the employee in performing his/her work. Since the company will usually provide these to employees I do not see any added advantage for an employee to forgo his/her salary for these benefits.

Lastly, employees commonly forgo part of their salary in order to contribute for their superannuation. This form of employee contribution is usually called concessional contributions and is subject to 15% tax instead of the salary sacrifice being include as part of an employees employment income and subjected to the graduated individual tax rate. However employees opting for this form of a salary sacrifice should note of the concessional contribution cap of $25,000. Any amount in excess of the concessional contribution cap will be taxed at the rate of 31.5%.

Among the three forms of salary sacrifice mentioned above, I suggest fellow migrants to go for the superannuation benefit as this will help you reduce your tax expenses and at the same time quickly building up your super fund.

(Disclaimer: Information mentioned above are based on general reading and you are advised to consult a tax professional for more detailed information.)
P.S.: Practicing for IELTS Written exam :)