Mercy Super - Always for you

The Superannuation Guarantee requires your employer to contribute to your superannuation account on your behalf. Your employer must contribute an amount equal to the greater of the following:

• The rate set under your Industrial Agreement, or

• The Superannuation Guarantee rate, which is currently 9% of your ordinary time earnings (OTE).

• Superannuation must be paid into a superannuation fund, or the Tax Office can accept contributions for employers if they cannot be accepted by a superannuation fund (for example a superannuation fund cannot accept contributions if the employer does not pay their contributions by the due quarterly date).

The quickest way of finding out the latest information of your membership is to use the Member Online link - it can provide the current details of your membership, and provide a latest account balance.

To register for the "My Account" facility, you must provide the Fund with an email address, and member ID (a useful source is your latest Annual Statement) and select "Set Up Account". You will receive a response email from the website, which must be opened and clicked on within 24 hours to set a secure password.

If you require information beyond what is offered from these sources, please contact us on 1300 368 891 or (07) 3163 8867.

Usually your Annual Membership Statement will be distributed to you by mid October. Your statement will show your account balance as at 30 June.

The Super Co-contribution is a helping hand from the Australian Government to assist eligible individuals to save for their retirement. If you are eligible and make personal super contributions, the Government will match your contribution with a Super Co-contribution up to certain limits.

Please note - Salary sacrified personal contributions are not eligible to receive the Governments co-contribution. Personal contributions must be non-concessional (post-tax).

For further information please contact the Australian Taxation Office.

We encourage you to read our Fees and Costs fact sheet.

We can accept benefits from any other superannuation funds or policies. Rolled in amounts will accrue investment earnings at the same rate as all other accumulation balances.

We do not charge fees to accept and administer transferred benefits. If you are interested in transferring any previous superannuation benefits into your Fund account, please complete an Easy Rollover Form, and we will try to do as much of the work as possible on your behalf to retrieve the benefit from your previous fund.

As Mercy Super is not a public offer superannuation fund, organisations must apply to become 'Associated Employers' in order to make contributions for their employees.

Mercy Super is a corporate superannuation fund, and has traditionally been open only to employers within the Sisters of Mercy "umbrella". This policy has recently been revised and as such, applications from religious or non-profit organisations in the health, education and social services sectors will generally be accepted.

Please contact us if you are not sure if your employer is registered as an Associated Employer.

You should discuss with your employer's Payroll Department whether you are eligible to arrange deductions of salary sacrifice contributions from your pay. It is also important to consider whether providing superannuation contributions on a salary sacrifice basis is the best direction for you.

You may be able to receive the non-preserved benefit you had accrued at 30 June 1999 (less tax). Legislation that became effective on 1 July 1999 basically froze all non-preserved benefits. Check your latest Annual Statement or the My Account pages to see your non-preserved benefit.

If you have any questions about the Fund, or the services provided, you can contact Mercy Super on 1300 368 891.

COMPLAINTS ABOUT MERCY SUPER

If you have a complaint regarding the Fund (for example in relation to the conduct or decisions of the Trustee) you should contact the Chief Executive Officer on 1300 368 891 or you may call into see us (please refer to the Contact Us page on this website).

COMPLAINTS ABOUT ADVICE

If you ever have a problem with the financial advice provided by Mercy Super staff under IFAA’s licence, then you should write to:

General Manager Operational Services
IFAA
PO Box 1917
Milton QLD 4064

IFAA will address your concerns and try to resolve them quickly and fairly. IFAA aims to resolve any complaints as soon as possible, but no longer than 45 days from the date of receipt. If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your complaint, you have the right to contact the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

FOS is an independent body that has been established to provide free advice and assistance to consumers to help them in resolving complaints relating to members of the financial services industry.
You can contact FOS on 1300 780 808 (for the cost of a local call). Further information can also be obtained from their website www.fos.org.au.

Superannuation Complaints Tribunal

You may also contact the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal on 1300 884 114 or write to them at Superannuation Complaints Tribunal, Locked Bag 3060, Melbourne, VIC, 3001.

Please refer to our section on Temporary Residents (located under Members).

Mercy Super make anti-detriment payments to the dependant beneficiaries of deceased members.

In effect the anti-detriment payment represents a refund of the 15% contributions tax levied against their superannuation contributions paid to the Fund.

An anti-detriment payment is paid in addition to the account balance of the deceased member. It is only payable where the death benefit is being paid out as a lump sum. Anti-detriment payments can only be made to a spouse; former spouse; or, child (including an adult child) of the deceased member. A death benefit paid to the estate of a deceased member may include the anti-detriment benefit where the proceeds of the estate (or a portion of the proceeds) are to be distributed to a spouse, former spouse or child. Proof would be required to be provided to the Fund for this to occur.

How is the anti-detriment payment calculated?

Mercy Super will calculate the anti-detriment payment based upon whether the benefit was from a Defined Benefit or Accumulation account. The formula used for the Defined Benefit has been provided be the Fund’s Actuary. For accumulation calculations the Fund uses the formula supplied by the Australian Taxation office.

Is there any tax payable on an anti-detriment payment

Lump sum payments from superannuation are broken into two components:

• Taxable component, and
• Tax free component

The anti-detriment payment is included in the taxable component of a death benefit. Where the death benefit is being paid to a spouse *, ex-spouse or minor child, the entire benefit, including the anti detriment payment, will be tax free as these beneficiaries are dependants for tax purposes and always receive a superannuation death benefit tax free. However, where the anti-detriment payment is made to an adult child, it will be taxed at 15% plus Medicare Levy in line with the tax normally payable by a non-dependant beneficiary on the taxable component of a death benefit.

* Spouse generally means:

Another individual (whether of the same sex or a different sex) with whom the individual is in a relationship that is registered under a state law or territory law prescribed for the purposes of Section 22B of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 as a kind of relationship prescribed for the purposes of that section; and Another individual (whether of the same sex or a different sex) who although not legally married to the member lives with the member on a genuine domestic basis in a relationship as a couple.

For further information on anti-detriment payments please contact the Fund.

To assist members find their lost super, Mercy Super participates in the use of the Australian Taxation Office SuperMatch system and thereby may provide the Tax Office with your details in order to search the Tax Office's Lost Member Register. If any lost super records are located we will write to you to advise you of this fact. As part of this matching process we may also locate any unclaimed Superannuation Guarantee or Superannuation Holding Account (SHA) money for you.

You can also search the Tax Office records yourself using the SuperSeeker website. You will need your Tax File Number when using this system. Click here to use the SuperSeeker system

Transferring your UK pension to Mercy Super

If you’re an Australian resident who is eligible to contribute to super and you want to transfer your United Kingdom pension scheme into your Mercy Super account, then this fact sheet will be relevant to you.

Can Mercy Super accept your UK benefit?
Yes – Mercy Super is registered as a Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme (QROPS) with Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC). Mercy Super’s reference number is: QROPS500964.

How does it work?
Transfers from UK pension schemes are tested against the UK Lifetime Allowance ₤1.8 million to 6 April 2012 when it drops to ₤1.5 million. As Mercy Super is a QROPS fund, any transfer amounts below the UK Lifetime Allowance won’t be taxed by the UK HMRC.

If the transfer is made to an Australian super fund which is not recognised as a QROPS, the UK tax rate on the amount transferred could be as high as 55%.

Australian Tax Treatment of UK Benefits
If the transfer is received within six months of you becoming an Australian resident, the transfer amount is tax free and treated as non-concessional contributions (see below for contributions caps).

If you have been an Australian resident for longer than six months when the transfer is received, any “growth component” of your UK benefit (represented by the growth in the value of your benefit between the time you became an Australian resident and the time the transfer is received) may be treated as assessable income in Australia and taxed at your marginal tax rate plus Medicare levy.

However, if you have transferred the entire balance of your UK benefit, you can elect to have the growth component treated as assessable income to Mercy Super, which will be taxed at 15%. To make this election, you need to complete the “Tax payable on a foreign super transfer” form (NAT 11724) and return this to Mercy Super. Mercy Super will then deduct 15% of the assessable component from the transfer amount.

Please note that any assessable component is not counted against the contribution caps, however the balance of the amount transferred will be treated as a non-concessional contribution and count towards your non-concessional contributions cap.

Contributions Caps

Concessional Contributions Cap
Concessional contributions include, employer contributions (including contributions made under salary sacrifice arrangements) and personal contributions claimed as a tax deduction by a self-employed person.

The cap for 2011/2012 is $25,000 which is indexed in line with average weekly ordinary time earnings (AWOTE), in increments of $5,000 (rounded down).

A transitional concessional contributions cap applies until 30 June 2012 for people aged 50 or over. If you are aged 50 or over, the annual cap is $50,000 for the 2011/2012 financial years. If you have more than one fund, all concessional contributions made to all funds are added together and count towards the cap. The transitional cap is not indexed.

Non-concessional Contributions Cap
Non-concessional contributions include personal contributions for which you cannot claim a tax deduction (including after tax voluntary contributions, spouse contributions and the tax free component of a transfer from a UK pension scheme).

The cap for 2011/2012 is $150,000.

People under 65 years of age can “bring forward” up to three years of contributions so that they could contribute up to $450,000 in a single year with no non-concessional contributions made in the subsequent two financial years.

It is important to note that Australian super funds are unable to accept UK transfer amounts that are in excess of your non-concessional contributions cap (either $150,000 or $450,000 if under age 65).

What happens when a Benefit is paid?
If after a benefit is transferred from your UK pension scheme, a benefit is paid by Mercy Super, that payment must be reported to the UK HMRC. Any payments from your account are firstly considered to be from your UK pension transfer amount. These payments from your account include: lump sum cash payments, transfers (rollovers) to other super funds, family law payment splits, spouse contribution splits, ATO release authority payments, income stream payments.

The UK HMRC may impose an “unauthorised payments” charge (40 %) and surcharge (15%) on these payments unless the person is not a tax resident in the UK when the payment is made, and has not been a UK tax resident in that year, nor in any of the previous five UK tax years.

Before directing Mercy Super to subsequently transfer your benefits to another Australian super fund, it is important that you check that this other fund is a registered QROPS fund with HMRC.

Further Information
This information is a guide only and is not intended to be a substitute for financial advice. You should consider obtaining financial and/or taxation advice from a qualified advisor before making a decision.

For an application form to transfer your UK Pension to your Mercy Super fund, click here.

We’re here to help

If you have any questions about QROPS, or Mercy Super in general, please contact us on 1300 368 891 or 07 3163 8867.

To view current superannuation rates and thresholds, click here.

A change of address can be provided over the phone; all other updates must be provided either in writing (for your protection) by completing the Change of Personal Details form.

To change your beneficiaries, you need to complete a Change of Beneficiaries form.