Your visa subclass, not your nationality or your income, decides what rate of tax is taken out of your super when you claim it. Working holiday makers who held a 417 or 462 pay 65% on the whole payment. Most other temporary visas, including the 482 and the student 500, pay 35% on the taxed element. Super that has already been handed to the ATO as unclaimed money is taxed at 65% whatever visa you held. Those rates are legislated, they are withheld by your fund or the ATO, and no agent can change them.
Find your subclass
Your visa subclass is on the grant email you were sent before you travelled. If you cannot find it, we can work it out from your passport details as part of the claim.
| Subclass | What it is | DASP rate | What the page covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 417 | Working Holiday | 65% | The classic backpacker visa. The working holiday rate applies to the whole payment. |
| 462 | Work and Holiday | 65% | Treated exactly like the 417 for super, despite being a different programme. |
| 482 | Skilled (TSS / Skills in Demand) | 35% | Sponsored work, usually the largest balances, and the most to lose by waiting. |
| 500 | Student | 35% | Part-time job super that students almost never know exists. |
Visas that are not on the list
Plenty of people worked here on something else, and most of them can still claim. The rule is about the type of visa, not its number: if it was a temporary visa, it has now expired or been cancelled, and you have left Australia, a DASP is available at the 35% rate on the taxed element.
- 485 Temporary Graduate. A temporary visa, so a DASP applies once it ends. Students who rolled from a 500 onto a 485 usually have two separate stretches of super, often with different funds.
- 494, 407, 408, 476 and similar. All temporary, all claimable on the same basis at 35% on the taxed element.
- Bridging visas. A bridging visa associated with a 417 or 462 carries the working holiday rate with it. This catches people out, because the last visa they held was not the one that sets the rate.
- More than one visa over the years. The rate follows the contributions, not your final visa. If you worked on a 417 and later on a 482, the working holiday portion is taxed at the working holiday rate. This is why a claim is worth having checked rather than guessed.
Who cannot claim
Australian citizens, permanent residents and holders of a permanent visa cannot claim a DASP: their super stays in the system until they retire. New Zealand citizens are the notable in-between case. They generally cannot claim a DASP, but if they are moving home permanently they can usually transfer their Australian super to a KiwiSaver scheme under the Trans-Tasman arrangement, which is a different process entirely.
Visa questions, answered straight
I held more than one visa. Which rate applies?
The rate follows the contributions rather than the last visa in your passport. Super paid while you were a working holiday maker keeps the working holiday rate even if you later moved onto a skilled visa. The fund works this out from your contribution history, and it is one of the things worth having checked rather than assumed.
My visa is still active. Can I claim now?
Not yet. A DASP requires the visa to have expired or been cancelled, and you to have left Australia. If you have gone for good but the visa still has time to run, you can ask the Department of Home Affairs to cancel it, which makes you eligible straight away instead of waiting for the expiry date. We can walk you through that request as part of your claim.
I cannot remember or find my visa subclass.
That is normal and it does not block the claim. Your subclass is on the original grant email, but if that is long gone we can establish your visa history from your passport details. It is part of the service rather than something you have to solve first.
Does the visa subclass change how long the claim takes?
No. The ATO standard is that a complete application is generally paid within 28 days whatever visa you held. What actually slows claims down is incomplete information, name mismatches and fund evidence requirements, which is covered on the processing time page.
Ready when you are. 5 minutes, flat fee.
$149 + GST · every fund plus ATO-held super · paid to your bank worldwide in about 28 days.