Can I transfer my KiwiSaver to an Australian super fund?

What is the scheme called and what does it do?

The Trans-Tasman Retirement Savings Portability scheme. The Australian Taxation Office describes it as allowing you "to transfer your retirement savings between Australia and New Zealand when you move from one country to the other".

The New Zealand end of it sits in clause 14B of the KiwiSaver scheme rules, which lets a member who has permanently emigrated to Australia apply to have their accumulation transferred to an Australian complying superannuation scheme. On a satisfactory application the manager "must transfer the whole of the member's accumulation".

Is anyone obliged to do it?

No, and this trips people up.

The ATO states that the transfer "is voluntary for both" members and providers. Your KiwiSaver provider does not have to send, and your Australian fund does not have to receive. Both have to be participating.

So the first thing to do is not paperwork. It is two phone calls, one to each provider, asking whether they take part and what they charge, because either of them may levy a fee.

What are the conditions?

Five that matter, all from the ATO:

• The whole balance, or nothing. "Transfers from a New Zealand KiwiSaver scheme to a complying Australian super fund must be the whole balance of the account. Partial transfers are not allowed."
• APRA funds only. The money "can only be transferred to, and held in, a complying super fund regulated by APRA" and "cannot be transferred to a self-managed super fund".
• It counts as a non-concessional contribution. New Zealand sourced savings arriving in Australia are treated as non-concessional, or personal, contributions and count against the non-concessional cap. Going over the cap can produce an excess determination, and you may have to release an amount or pay extra tax. Your total superannuation balance also affects how much you can put in.
• You need an Australian tax file number.
• Your KiwiSaver provider has to hand over the detail. The receiving fund will ask for the split between Australian and New Zealand sourced amounts, the tax free component of any Australian sourced amount, anything not previously counted towards the non-concessional cap, and any restricted or unrestricted non-preserved amounts. The ATO is blunt that the Australian fund "will only accept the transferred amount when they have this information".

Is the transfer taxed?

No. The ATO says a transfer from a KiwiSaver scheme to a participating Australian super fund "is not taxed", and that withdrawals from the Australian account are tax free once you meet a condition of release.

Three things the transferred money does not get, though. It is not deductible as a personal contribution, it does not attract the super co-contribution, and it is not eligible for the spouse contribution tax offset.

Does moving it let me get at it sooner?

No, and this is the part worth reading twice.

Your Australian fund holds the money in two parts, a New Zealand sourced component and an Australian sourced component, and they unlock at different times. The ATO: to reach the Australian sourced component you generally need to be 60 or older and meet the Australian definition of retirement. To reach the New Zealand sourced component "you will need to reach the New Zealand age of retirement (currently 65)".

So the money changes country and keeps its New Zealand lock. Transferring is not an early access strategy, and anyone selling it as one has it wrong.

Then what does change?

How Australia treats the money while you are still working.

Australian social security law disregards money in a superannuation fund while you are under Age Pension age. It does not extend that to overseas funds, so an accessible KiwiSaver balance is assessed as an ordinary managed investment. Once the money sits in an Australian fund it is superannuation for those purposes, and the age based concession applies to it.

There is a separate guide on that, because the effect is larger than it sounds and it is the strongest argument for transferring that does not depend on markets or fees.

Can I move it back?

The scheme runs both ways. The ATO sets out the return trip: you must hold the savings in a complying APRA regulated fund, have permanently emigrated to New Zealand, sign a statutory declaration saying so with proof of a New Zealand address, transfer the whole balance, and have a KiwiSaver scheme ready to receive it. You need an IRD number.

Treat the round trip as theoretically available rather than easy. Each leg is all or nothing, each needs both providers to participate, and each has its own paperwork.

What this guide does not tell you

It does not tell you whether to do it. That turns on fees, investment options, insurance inside each fund, your contribution caps in the year of transfer, and what you expect to do with the rest of your life. Those are questions for a licensed adviser who knows your circumstances.

It also leaves alone what happens to the New Zealand government contributions inside your balance, how a transfer interacts with the non-concessional bring forward rules, and what either country does about tax when you eventually draw the money down.

One dated figure to watch. The ATO page carrying most of the detail above was last updated on 3 June 2024. Caps and thresholds move, so check the current non-concessional cap before you act on the contributions point.