Kiwisaver Withdrawal

I see the question around the withdrawal of Kiwisaver funds come up time and time again.

There's a lot of misinformation about withdrawing your Kiwisaver funds to help buy a property in Australia.

This blog will set the record straight!

As a NZer residing in Australia you are able to transfer your Kiwisaver funds to an eligible super fund and withdraw some of these funds to put toward the purchase of your first home in Australia.

Getting your hands on some Kiwisaver funds can make a material difference to your deposit and allow you to secure a loan to buy a home.

Here's a rundown of the rules:

1. You must transfer your Kiwisaver funds to an eligible super fund provider. There are only a handful of these:

   1. First Super

   2. Brighter Super

   3. Testra Super

   4. Verve Super

2. You must be resident in Australia.

3. You must have a Tax File Number (TFN).

4. You must transfer all of your Kiwisaver (no partial transfers).

5. You can only withdraw a maximum of AUD15,000 from your transferred Kiwisaver funds.

6. You must obtain a "Determination" from the Australian Tax Office (ATO), which approves you to withdraw up to $15k frim your transferred funds.

7. You must be buying your first home in Australia. Note it doesn't matter if you own / have owned a property in NZ.

8. You must arrange the ATO determination and release of funds BEFORE you settle a property purchase.

There are no price caps or income caps to affect eligiblity. You can qualify even if you had previously withdrawn your Kiwisaver to buy your first home in NZ.

Banks consider Kiwisaver withdrawal (under the First Home Super Saver scheme (FHSS)) to be "genuine savings". This is particularly important to those home buyers who are relying upon the Government 5% Deposit Scheme. This Scheme requires borrowers to show that they will provide at least 5% of the purchase price from proven savings.

You can withdraw up to AUD15,000 per person. So, if there are two of you, each with at least $15k in your transferred Kiwisavers, you can withdraw AUD30,000.

The process:

1. Get in contact with one of the eligible super fund providers. Arrange to set up an account and tell them you will transfer your Kiwisaver funds from NZ.

2. Contact your Kiwisaver provider in NZ. Tell them you are withdrawing your Kiwisaver funds and transferring to Australia. The NZ provider will need to know the details of the fund that will be receiving the $$.

3. Once the funds have been transferred, you contact the ATO to request a determination (approval) to withdraw the funds under the FHSS rules. You will need an ATO login via MyGov. Here's a link with the FHSS information https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/super-for-individuals-and-families/super/withdrawing-and-using-your-super/early-access-to-super/first-home-super-saver-scheme

4. After you have a FHSS determination and are ready to access your FHSS amount, you can then request a release. You must have a FHSS determination before you request a release.

5. The funds will then be released to your nominated bank account. You must use these funds to put toward the purchase of your home. You will have 12 months to use the funds. Remember to do this well before the settlement date of your first property purchase.

6. Expect the whole process to take 4 to 6 weeks.

So, there you have it; Kiwisaver transfers in a nutshell.

Got questions? Need to talk with a Kiwi broker about how you can jump on the property ladder in Oz? Shoot me an email paul.davey@uno.com.au or give me a call 0423688811

Give 'em a taste of Kiwi!