Why do I have to pay tax on my pension?
DFRDB pensions are considered income by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and therefore we are obliged to deduct tax from your pension according to the relevant Pay As You Go (PAYG) taxation tables.
Any tax concessions you may be eligible for will be taken into account each fortnight when calculating the amount of PAYG deductions from your pension payments unless you have advised us that you wish to claim these concessions on an annual basis through your income tax return.
If you think you should not be paying tax on your pension you will need to apply to the ATO for an assessment. You can do this by completing a PAYG income tax withholding variation (ITWV) application form available at www.ato.gov.au and submitting it to the ATO.
Once the ATO has provided their assessment to you, you can forward this information to DFRDB and we will apply any changes to your tax on the next available payday.