What is a “notice of intent to claim a tax deduction”?

The process to claim a tax deduction

There are a few steps: 

1. Check you’re eligible to claim a tax deduction in the first place (for example, people over 67 need to meet a work test and people over 75 can’t do it at all)
2. Make a personal contribution – it has to be from you personally, or if it’s made by your employer it has to come from your “after tax” salary.
3. Complete a “Notice of intent to claim or vary a deduction for personal super contributions” and send it to your super fund (your super fund can give you a copy of the form or you can download one from the ATO’s website here: Notice of intent to claim or vary a deduction for personal super contributions | Australian Taxation Office).
4. Wait for the fund’s written acknowledgment they’ve received the form and acted on it (they will need to declare your contributions in the fund’s tax return).
5. Claim the tax deduction in your personal tax return.
6. Enjoy your tax refund from the ATO.

What’s interesting about this tax deduction is the importance of the role played by the pieces of paper (the notice of intent to claim and the subsequent acknowledgement from the fund).

For most tax deductions, it’s spending the money or incurring the expense that gives you the tax deduction. Paperwork is important but its main purpose is to give you evidence (if you need it in the future) that you paid the money for something that’s tax deductible.

Personal super contributions are completely different – this time it's the paper that creates the tax deduction.

That’s because super contributions you make personally aren’t normally tax deductible – until you change their status with this paperwork. 

The notice of intent deadlines you can't miss

You don’t have to lodge your notice at the exact moment you make the contribution. In fact, you can even make contributions throughout the financial year and only lodge the notice when you’ve decided how much you’ll claim as a tax deduction when you’re ready to do your personal tax). But there are some really important timeframes:

• You must give your notice to your super fund and receive their acknowledgement before you lodge your personal tax return. For example, if you made contributions during 2025/26 and in October 2026 (when you’re doing your personal tax return for 2025/26), you decide to claim a tax deduction for them, you have to make sure you have your fund’s acknowledgement in your hands before you press send on your personal return.

• If you’re taking too long on your personal return, there’s another deadline – 30 June of the following year. So in the example above, say you still haven’t lodged your personal tax return by 30 June 2027. You need to give your notice to your fund before 30 June 2027 regardless. Make sure you get the acknowledgement from them too in due course (not necessarily before 30 June 2027) – you’ll need it when you eventually do your personal return.

If you get these timeframes wrong, your tax deduction will be denied. Unfortunately there’s no way around it and no amount of begging will encourage the ATO to relax their stance.

Earlier deadlines triggered by other actions 

Actions you take with your super can shorten the timeframe even more. For example, if you: 

• start a pension from your super fund;
• take a lump sum from your accumulation account in your fund;
• move your super to a new fund; or
• want to split some of your contributions with your spouse 

you need to give your notice to your super fund (and receive their acknowledgement) beforehand. 

For example, in the example earlier, contributions were made during 2025/26. Imagine this person has just one super account – the contributions were paid into it during the year. On 1 July 2026, they want to start a pension from that super account. The notice (and trustee acknowledgement) have to be received on 30 June 2026 or earlier. That’s true even if not all of their super account is put into a pension.

Want more information?

• See how moving funds impacts the timing of notices
• Understand how your age can be important

• Download our Factsheet

  on claiming a personal tax deduction.

Fun fact: You might hear these notices referred to as “Section 290 notices” or “Section 290-170 notices”. That’s a great example of the super industry being unimaginative with names. The part of the income tax law that sets out the rules for these notices is in – you guessed it – Section 290-170 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.

You may also be interested in...

• Super Contributions explained: Caps, rules and limits
• What is considered a contribution to super?
• What happens if you exceed the contribution limits?

This article is for general information only. It does not constitute financial product advice and has been prepared without taking into account any individual's personal objectives, situation or needs. It is not intended to be a complete summary of the issues and should not be relied upon without seeking advice specific to your circumstances.