Home » Australia Working Holiday Blog » Posts » Backpackers Make the Australian Government Rich
Share This Article

Tax Refund

Remember that feeling at the airport, thinking you’ve left something behind, well you probably have! Each year tens of thousands of Working Holiday Makers leave Australia and forgot to claim their super refund. According to the ATO, a whopping 540 million dollars of backpackers money is unclaimed, with an additional $20 million being forgotten each year. Now that’s a few trips down the east coast!

Super money becomes “unclaimed” and moves into the coffers of the tax office, when an individual reaches 65 years of age, dies, or is a temporary resident who has left Australia, which is what will happen if you don’t claim your super. It’s estimated that approximately 70% of backpackers are forgetting to claim their super! With the average refund being $1500, this is simply ridiculous!

Now if you don’t know what “Super” is, well your employer is required to pay the equivalent of 9.25% of your wage to your “super fund” ( in addition to your wage). Say you earned $25,000 doing a working holiday job in Australia, this means you would have had $2,127 contributed to your super fund. Depending on which investment stream you chose you could have made or lost money during your time in oz. (If invested in “cash” you’d probably make 3-4% pa.*)
 

How to stay on top of your Super

 
1. Keep records of each superannuation fund you sign up too, whether you create an email or facebook thread to yourself, so when the time comes to leave Australia you have all the information ready to claim your super refund.

2. Try and stick to one Super Fund if you change jobs, this way it will be a lot simpler when making your claim as you only have one fund to worry about.

3. Set a Super Refund reminder so you don’t forgot to claim it. Doing it one week after leaving Australia is a smart time.
 

Does Super Confuse You?

 
Many companies provide a cheap and easy service to claim your backpacker superannuation refund and do all the legwork for you. This can be a convenient option considering you would have already left the country and want to stay focussed on the good times. Some providers have offices all over the world, with multilingual staff who can sort out your super refund for you, so if your english isn’t up to scratch it’s not the end of the world.
 

Get Your Super Refund Now

 
If paperwork is not your friend Taxback.com can get your super money to your bank account in no time.

*Investment rates and performance of each super fund will vary.

, ,

Dimi /

G'day Guys, My name is Dimi, I'm one of the admins/starters of Workingholidayjobs.com.au . Freddie and I started this community to help working holiday makers and harvest workers find jobs in an easy and transparent manner. We're not just here to help you finding jobs, anything related to your working holiday down under, we will help try find a way to make it easier for you too achieve. Getting your tax done, deals, travel spots... you name it. If you ever have any questions or feedback please don't hesitate to ask. We're always looking for ways to improve the site and help meet our members needs and build a stronger community. Hope you're doing well and best of luck. Cheers Dimi



4 Responses to “Backpackers Make the Australian Government Rich”

  1. leah

    i believe that working holidays to oz are only applicable to some countries. i am from philippines, it would be funny to say but ever since i was a kid, i dream of working in the yard as fruit picker. thus i wish i have option to do it, let me know. thanks xx

    Reply
  2. Freddie

    Hi Leah!

    Bad news I’m afraid, the Philippines is not eligible for a Working Holiday 417 Visa nor a Working Holiday 462 Visa. This might change in the future as Australia is currently looking to open up it’s Working Holiday program to new countries.

    Reply
  3. KiRstin

    Hey. We’re looking to find out where the best place is to have our super paied into. Can you help us please. We find it all very confusing

    Reply
  4. thomas

    also on that freddie i heard they might be looking at opening up sponsors and 2nd visa jobs to more people in the guiding areas came from tourism australia , there working on it

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Freddie

Click here to cancel reply.