All the fees and charges that apply to your HESTA super account are set out below. They include:

• Fees paid from your account
• Fees paid from the assets of the Fund or returns on investments
• Investment management fees and performance fees
• Federal Government taxes deducted from your account

Fees paid from your account

1. Low administration fee

HESTA’s administration fee is $1.25 per week plus a 0.1% p.a. Trustee operating fee ($1.00 for each $1,000 invested), currently applied to investment values before interest rates are declared.

We use this fee to manage your account and the Fund as a whole and to provide services, communication and educational materials to members. If your account balance is under $1,000, the administration fee will generally not exceed the interest credited to your account in any one year. Taxes and insurance charges still apply and, in times of low or negative investment returns, we may apply a fee of up to $10 per year. You will be notified in advance of any changes to our administration fees.

2. No entry or exit fees

HESTA does not charge any entry or exit fees.

Other super funds may charge fees when you transfer your money in or out.

3. No switching fees

You don't pay any fees for switching your investment choice.

4. No commissions

HESTA does not pay any commissions to financial advisers, sales agents or any other person or entity that provides advice on your super.

5. Low cost disability and death insurance

Your insurance cover through HESTA is optional. Our default insurance cover is two units of Death Cover and two units of Income Protection (IP) Cover at a cost of $3.00 per week, which is deducted from your super account. Subject to eligibility, this provides a benefit of up to $850 per month for IP Cover to age 60 (with a 90-day waiting period) and Death Cover of up to $170,000 depending on your age. For more information read Your HESTA insurance guide .

6. One-off fees

HESTA applies a $60.00 fee for contribution splitting out of the Fund. We don't apply a fee to receive split contributions. A fee of $97.10 applies for meeting Family Law information requests, and $75.00 for Family Law account splitting. 

Fees paid from HESTA's assets

HESTA pays fees to investment advisers and managers to invest your funds and to manage the assets in each of the investment options. Investment costs are shown below as a percentage of the Fund's assets to which they apply. The percentages will vary from year to year, reflecting the blend of investment managers used and any performance fees paid.

Performance fees

Some of HESTA’s investment managers can earn additional performance fees if their investment returns are above an agreed hurdle (minimum) return. The hurdle return is based on the benchmark return for that asset class and investment manager. The investment manager will only receive a performance fee where their return for the year is above the hurdle return. There is no guarantee that they will earn a performance fee in any given year and the actual fees paid vary each year.

The performance fee agreement for each investment is negotiated with the investment manager, to set the hurdle return and the fee rate for outperformance. Generally, we pay a performance fee after the annual return performance is known and the value of any performance fee can be calculated. These costs are deducted from HESTA's earnings or assets before interest rates are declared. They are not deducted from your individual account.

Investment management fees and performance fees

* Performance fees were paid to managers where they delivered returns higher than the specified benchmark hurdles. The total fee paid for the year was the Management Fee and the Performance Fee.

Member benefit protection

Member benefit protection applies to super fund members with an account of less than $1,000. The cost of this is not a fee, but is protecting low member account balances against erosion by administration fees. It's deducted from investment earnings before interest is declared . In 2009/10 it was 0.02% of total assets.

Taxes

Tax on contributions to a super fund

You don't pay tax on the contributions you make into HESTA from income on which you have already paid tax (after-tax income). However, if you exceed the cap on these after-tax (known as non-concessional) contributions you'll pay the top marginal tax rate plus the Medicare Levy on those contributions and the excess contributions count towards the concessional contributions cap.

A tax of 15% is paid from your account on:

• the contributions your employer makes for you
• any contributions paid from income on which tax has not been paid (for example, through salary sacrifice arrangements with your employer)
• any contributions you made for which you received a tax deduction (known as concessional or deductible contributions)

If you exceed the cap on concessional contributions made by your employer, you must pay an additional 31.5% tax (including the Medicare Levy) on the excess contributions. Other taxes may apply if you haven't given your Tax File Number (TFN) to HESTA.

If you're self-employed

• Any concessional (tax deductible) contributions are subject to 15% tax paid from your account.
• If you exceed the cap on concessional contributions, you must pay an additional 31.5% tax (including the Medicare Levy) on the excess contributions.

HESTA calculates the tax on the net contribution after allowing for our weekly administration fee and any disability and death insurance you may have through us.

You can find more information on the tax rates that apply and the contribution caps for concessional and non-concessional contributions at www.ato.gov.au/super

Tax on money transferred into, or out of, a fund

You don't pay tax on money you transfer from one Australian super fund to another, unless the amount transferred contains an untaxed component (eg a termination payment direct from an employer, or a payment from certain super funds for government employees).

An untaxed component attracts 15% tax.

A higher tax rate also applies to transfers of more than $1.1 million from an untaxed scheme to a taxed scheme.

Super from overseas funds

Payments from an overseas fund to an Australian fund are treated as personal, non-concessional contributions. No tax is payable on the contributions but the cap still applies.

Tax may apply to investment earnings accrued in the overseas fund when your benefit is paid from that fund more than six months after you become an Australian resident.

You should consider seeking professional tax advice before you transfer super from an overseas fund.

Tax on investment earnings of the Fund

Investment earnings of the Fund are taxed at a maximum rate of 15%. Most Australian capital gains are taxed at a discounted rate of 10%. Imputation tax credits on any share dividends may reduce the actual tax rate further. HESTA allows for investment tax before declaring interest rates.

Tax on payments from a super fund

You may have to pay tax when you withdraw money from HESTA. The amount you pay will depend on your circumstances, including your age, how long you have been in a super fund and how your super benefit is paid. Currently:

• you pay no tax on super benefits received if you’re aged 60 and over, where they have already been subject to tax on contributions and investment earnings (this applies to your HESTA super)
• you pay no tax on the part of your super benefit that consists of the contributions you made from your after-tax income after 30 June 1983, or on the portion of your benefit that accrued before 1 July 1983. HESTA was required to calculate the latter amount as a fixed dollar figure at 1 July 2007. These two amounts form part of the tax-free component of your super
• you pay no tax on the first $160,000* of your total benefit less the tax-free component if you withdraw it from super after you reach preservation age, but before age 60. You may pay 15% tax plus Medicare Levy on any amount over $160,000
• if you’re under your preservation age you pay 20% plus Medicare Levy on your entire benefit less the tax-free component
• if you are under age 60 and don’t supply your TFN to HESTA, the taxable component of your benefit will be taxed at the highest marginal tax rate plus the Medicare Levy. The tax free component will not be taxed. The additional tax may be recovered after lodging your tax return
• if you use your super benefit to receive a regular income from a super fund (eg a super income stream) prior to age 60, special tax concessions may apply. Benefits are tax-free after age 60. Visit www.ato.gov.au for details
• if your benefit is paid out to you as an eligible temporary resident who is leaving Australia permanently, higher tax rates may apply. Contact the Australian Taxation Office for details.
• no tax is paid on death benefits paid to a dependant (as defined in the tax legislation). The taxable component of a lump sum paid to a non-dependant is taxed at 15%
• for terminal medical conditions, your account balance may be released tax-free subject to meeting certain conditions

* These figures for 2009/10 are indexed based on average weekly ordinary time earnings (AWOTE – see www.abs.gov.au for details).

GST

GST does not apply to super contributions, rollovers, interest applied to members' accounts or benefits paid. However, GST does affect HESTA's operating costs.

Visit www.ato.gov.au for more details on tax and super.