Q: Our son is currently working overseas. Can he still make contributions to his Australian super fund?
A: Non-residents can make super contributions. So, if your son's living overseas, he's certainly allowed to make contributions to an Australian super fund. That could be a non-concessional contribution, so with after-tax money, or he could even make a concessional contribution and obtain a tax deduction, so long as he lodges an Australian income tax return, and within that return, there is income which should be offset with that concessional contribution.
If he hasn't got any Australian income or any taxable income here in Australia, it would be a non-concessional contribution. Now, I hate to keep saying this and keep going back to it, but you do, of course, need to see if there are any super fund restrictions that apply. So, checking with the fund to make sure that they will allow a member who is not in Australia, and to make a contribution whilst they're not here.
