Super Death Benefit Tax Calculator
Estimate tax on a super death benefit and reconcile the fund’s withholding with direct or estate payment assumptions.
Reconcile a super death benefit
Enter Recipient Status and Fund Components
A super death benefit’s tax treatment depends on its fund components and the recipient’s tax-dependant status. Enter the fund’s breakdown without reclassifying any component.
The gross benefit must equal the tax-free component plus the taxed and untaxed elements. Enter one recipient’s share with a single confirmed tax status. For an estate with mixed beneficiaries, reconcile each allocated share separately using its own fund-component breakdown.
Under Division 302 of the Income Tax Assessment Act, a spouse or former spouse and a child under 18 can be death benefits dependants. Financial dependence or an interdependency relationship can also establish that status. Select unresolved facts when the responsible adviser has not settled the position.
Eligibility to receive super is a separate question. An adult child can be eligible for a lump sum while failing the tax-dependant test. Confirm income-stream eligibility under super law separately from the tax selection. The superannuation death benefits guide explains recipient eligibility, nominations and trustee decisions.
Compare Direct and Estate Payments
A lump sum paid for a tax dependant is tax-free. For a non-dependant, the taxed element has a 15% income-tax ceiling and the untaxed element has a 30% ceiling. The tax-free component remains tax-free.
This model applies the lower of your entered income-tax rate and each ceiling. Direct payments add your entered effective Medicare levy to assessable components. Estate payments apply the same ultimate beneficiary assumption with no Medicare levy.
| Payment route | Modelled tax | Modelled net |
|---|---|---|
| Direct | $13,700 | $68,700 |
| Estate | $12,300 | $70,100 |
The estate comparison assumes this entire share benefits the person represented by the tax-status selection. It does not decide who receives the benefit. The ATO’s direct-versus-estate explanation distinguishes the estate’s tax treatment from a direct receipt.
For a supported ordinary death-benefit income stream, either person reaching age 60 makes the taxed element tax-free. The untaxed element remains assessable with a 10% offset. When both are under 60, the taxed element attracts a 15% offset and the untaxed element has no offset.
The calculator applies the stream’s offset against modelled income tax on assessable components, with a minimum of zero income tax. It adds the entered levy to assessable amounts separately. An offset can reduce income tax to zero while a levy remains.
The ATO’s 2026 withholding instrument sets out income-stream offsets and lump-sum withholding. This tool supports 2026-27 payment dates, ordinary streams paid directly to an eligible tax dependant and lump sums through either route. Capped defined benefits, historical non-dependant streams and estate income streams require separate calculations.
Reconcile the Net Benefit
The fictional fund statement contains a gross benefit of $82,400. Its components are $12,400 tax-free, a $58,000 taxed element and a $12,000 untaxed element. Actual withholding is $13,000, leaving a $69,400 receipt.
With the example’s 45% pre-cap rate and 2% direct levy, modelled direct tax is $13,700 and modelled net benefit is $68,700. Tax exceeds actual withholding by $700. The estate comparison gives $12,300 modelled tax and $70,100 modelled net benefit.
| Component | Fund amount | Income-tax rate | Income tax | Levy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tax-free component | $12,400.00 | 0% | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Taxed element | $58,000.00 | 15% | $8,700.00 | $1,160.00 |
| Untaxed element | $12,000.00 | 30% | $3,600.00 | $240.00 |
The download preserves the fund amounts and each component’s tax calculation to cents. It records both route scenarios, entered withholding and the assumptions behind the selected result. Use actual withholding to reconcile cash received, then compare that cash with the modelled net benefit.
The income-tax rate and direct levy are assumptions you supply. A single rate cannot reproduce a full annual assessment across tax brackets, other offsets, levy thresholds or surcharge rules. This is a rate-based estimate of ultimate tax under those assumptions, separate from the fund’s withholding or an ATO assessment.
Income-stream withholding depends on payment frequency and declarations, so the tool compares only the actual withholding you enter. Amounts stay in your browser tab and clear on reload. Keep the exported reconciliation with the fund statement and estate accounts.