You might be leaving Australia to pursue a new career, to follow the love of your life, or to return to your friends and family back home. But what happens to your super if you decide to leave Australia permanently? If you’ve been working here as a temporary resident and have earned super during that time, you can take any accumulated super funds with you.
Temporary residents who are permanently leaving Australia can claim any funds in their Hostplus super account as a Departing Australia Superannuation Payment (DASP) if their visa has expired or been cancelled, and they have left the country.
You can’t claim the DASP if you’re an Australian or New Zealand citizen, or an Australian permanent resident – it’s only available to people on temporary resident visas.
You must wait until you’ve left Australia and your visa is no longer active to submit a DASP application. However, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) recommends starting your DASP application while you’re still in Australia so that it’s easy for you to access all the relevant information.
To claim the DASP from your Hostplus account, you should apply within six months of leaving Australia. If you don’t claim the DASP within this time frame, we may transfer the money to the ATO.
If you’re applying for the DASP, you’ll need to submit your application via the ATO.
Here’s the process:
Please note the above process is managed by the ATO and subject to change.
In addition to completing your ATO application, you’ll need to send us the following documents if your super balance is more than $5,000:
The Hostplus DASP form provides details on how to do this.
If you’re a New Zealander who’s been working in Australia and earning super, or an Aussie permanently moving to New Zealand, you can’t claim the DASP. However, current government agreements mean you may be able to transfer your super balance to a KiwiSaver account.
You’ll need to pay tax on the taxable component of your DASP – but the amount of tax you pay will depend on which visa you held.
If you were in Australia on a Working Holiday visa, a Work and Holiday visa or an associated bridging visa, you’re considered a working holiday maker (WHM). You’ll be taxed at rate of 65% across the entire taxable component.
If you aren’t considered a working holiday maker, you’ll be taxed at a rate of 35% for the taxed element of your super, and 45% for the untaxed element of your taxable component.1
1. The source for how DASP payments are taxed is here.