How to Claim your Australian Superannuation Back? – Complete Guide

What is the Amount in my Super Account?

You can check the accumulated amount of your Super account(s) on on the official site of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

Also on the website of your Super fund, you should be able to see the amount online. Otherwise, you can also ask by e-mail or phone.

You can also get an estimate of your Super amount in the calculator at the end of this page.

When can I claim back my Superannuation?

You can only get your Super back when you have left Australia and your Working Holiday Visa is no longer valid – that means at least one year after your entry.

Is it possible to Claim my Super back before that?

Yes, it is possible. If you are leaving Australia before your visa expires, you can have your visa deleted. For that, you have to submit the form 1194 (you can find it here). You can send this application free of charge.

You can use the same for a “Request for Certification of Immigration Status”. This application, however, is subject to a fee and you need it, in case the amount of your Super is higher than $5.000. To reach such a high amount of money as a backpacker is quite improbable.

You can send the form via mail and since recent times also as a scan via e-mail to [email protected].

6 Months after you left Australia the Amount is Transferred to the ATO

6-12 months after your departure from Australia the amount on your Super account will be transferred to the Australian Taxation Office, if you haven’t claimed it before, of course. In this case, your account is classified as “unclaimed super”, but don’t worry, you can always claim your money back from the ATO.

When do I receive the Payment?

As soon as your Superfund received all documentation about your claim, you should receive the amount within 28 days.

You have the option to have the money paid out into an Australian bank account, or via check, which will be sent to you to your home.

Claim your Superannuation back with an Agency

You can claim your Superannuation back with a tax agency. The agency will take care of the whole procedure. The best choice for that is Taxback.com, which is the most popular one among backpackers.

The fee depends on the amount of your Super account. The fee at Taxback is composed by the refund fee and the handling fee.

• 0 – $200: $72 Refund Fee + Handling Fee
• $201 – $1000: $124 Refund Fee + Handling Fee
• $1.001 and more: 20% Refund Fee + Handling Fee

The handling fee is 20% of the refund fee. For example, if the amount of the Superannuation account equals $1.000, the refund fee is $124, plus 20% of these $124 as the handling fee (which is $24,80). With this example, the whole fee for handling the claim is $148.80.

If you want Taxback to do your Superannuation claim on your behalf, you can do so here.

While we recommend getting a tax agency to claim your taxes back, you can do the application for your Superannuation yourself. Read on to find out how.

Claim your Superannuation Yourself

If you follow this guide, you can claim the Super back yourself without much trouble. We highly suggest hiring an agency to claim your taxes back and, if you want, to do the Superannuation claim yourself. In this case, do not forget to clearly state, that you don’t want the agency to apply for the superannuation as well.

If you decide to do the superannuation claim yourself, follow these points.

You can submit the online application on the official site of the ATO.

How can I claim back the Superannuation myself?

If you have left Australia and your visa expired (or has been canceled), you are entitled to apply for your Superannuation. For that you have to submit the form “Departing Australia Superannuation Payment”, in short DASP.

You can submit the form online or via mail. Make sure to send it online, since this option is cheaper, because your details are checked electronically. With the paper application you have to send additional certificates which are also costly.

When should I Start with the Application?

You can start with your Super application already in Australia if you do it online. Please note, that you can only submit the application, once you effectively departed from Australia.

We recommend to prepare the application, while you are in Australia, since it will be much easier and cheaper to obtain additional documents or to get them certified.

You can save your online application and continue later. Make sure to provide your information exactly as you did when signing up.

Which Documents do I Need?

For the online application you have to provide the following information:

• Personal details
• Tax File Number (this is optional, however, we strongly recommend to provide it, since it’s making the process a lot easier)
• Information about your Superannuation account

The whole application should not last longer than 30 minutes.

IMPORTANT: Before you start with your application, you should check with your Superfund, which exact documents are required.

Where can I Submit the Application?

You can file the online application at the official website of the ATO.

You can use this online form no matter if your Super money is still with your Superannuation provider or if it has been transferred as “unclaimed super” to the ATO. The online application is free of charge.

If you prefer to do the super application with an agency, your best choice is Taxback.com. Fill in this form to see how much money you should get.

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