First Home Super Saver Scheme: Deposit Evidence

The First Home Super Saver Scheme lets eligible buyers release voluntary superannuation contributions and deemed earnings to help buy or build a home. For a broker, counting those funds as a deposit requires a determination, a release request and a trace to money available for the purchase. A determination alone doesn’t put cash in your client’s account.

Place FHSS in the Purchase Timeline

Put the First Home Super Saver (FHSS) process beside the contract deposit, finance deadline and settlement date before relying on the release. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) administers the scheme. Its FHSS guidance, checked on 3 October 2026, gives a usual payment period of 15 to 20 business days.

That period is an estimate, not a settlement guarantee. A contract deposit can fall due before the released money arrives, even if settlement is several weeks away. Record how the client will pay that earlier commitment separately.

Follow this sequence for a current determination made on or after 15 September 2024, using the ATO’s November 2025 scheme essentials.

1. Obtain contribution records from the super fund. Check each contribution’s date, amount and type against the fund’s transaction list, including any pre-filled details.
2. Request a determination through myGov’s linked ATO service. Select Super, then Manage, then First home saver. Apply before property ownership transfers, usually at settlement.
3. Read the determination and correct errors before requesting release. The determination identifies the maximum release amount. It is separate from the instruction to withdraw.
4. Submit the release request and nominate the receiving bank account. If the client has already signed the purchase or construction contract, request release within 90 days of signing.
5. Send the contract notification to the ATO. Its separate 90-day notification window also starts on the signing date. Save confirmation separately from the release request.
6. Confirm receipt in the nominated account and update the purchase funding schedule. Reconcile the amount received with the lender’s required cash contribution before treating it as available.

A hypothetical buyer requests release before signing a contract. Their contract deposit becomes due while the release is still processing. The broker must establish another evidenced source for that payment or have the client discuss contract timing with their conveyancer.

A finance condition doesn’t extend an ATO deadline. Nor does the determination prove that a lender will approve the loan. Keep the scheme calendar and the lending decision visible as separate checks.

Check the Current Scheme Rules

FHSS eligibility depends on the person’s property history, eligible contributions and intended home use. The ATO’s current eligibility guidance, checked on 3 October 2026, applies nationally, including Queensland. State location doesn’t create a separate FHSS application.

The applicant must be at least 18 when requesting a determination and cannot already have a completed FHSS release request. The ATO’s November 2025 essentials also requires the buyer’s name on the purchased property’s title.

Previous property ownership in Australia can include vacant land or an investment or commercial property. Asking only whether the client has bought a home before is insufficient. Eligibility is assessed individually: an ineligible co-buyer doesn’t automatically prevent an eligible buyer from participating.

A previous owner can apply under the financial-hardship exception. The ATO’s hardship application, checked on 3 October 2026, requires evidence that hardship caused the loss of property. It also asks about subsequent ownership and previous FHSS use.

The ATO decides that exception, so a broker must retain its decision instead of assuming divorce or financial difficulty establishes eligibility.

The scheme covers eligible voluntary salary-sacrifice and personal contributions. Compulsory employer superannuation guarantee contributions and spouse contributions can’t be released through FHSS. The government’s September 2025 fact sheet, checked on 3 October 2026, explains the annual and overall contribution limits.

Those limits aren’t a promise that the client’s entire super balance is available. The determination establishes the maximum release amount, and the actual bank receipt can be lower after withholding or government-debt offsets. Use the client’s determination and payment records, not a general contribution example, to establish the deposit amount.

FHSS, sometimes written FHSSS, supports a home the buyer intends to occupy. It can’t fund an investment-only purchase.

The ATO’s FHSS guidance, checked on 3 October 2026, requires occupation as soon as practicable. The buyer must occupy the home for at least six of the first twelve months from when occupation becomes practicable.

The same explanation distinguishes deemed earnings from the fund’s actual investment return. A larger super balance or a strong fund return doesn’t establish a larger FHSS entitlement. AustralianSuper, UniSuper, Aware Super and Australian Retirement Trust members use the federal process, with their own fund’s contribution records and release arrangements.

A First Home Owner Grant follows its state or territory authority’s rules and payment timetable. Record any grant separately from the FHSS release instead of combining both into one assumed payment.

Evidence Released Funds

Build a file that follows the contribution records through the ATO process to the client’s usable bank balance. This is a proposed broker evidence pack, not a universal lender document list. The selected lender sets its own requirements.

Record	What it establishes	What it doesn’t establish
Super fund statement or transaction list	Contribution dates, amounts and types used in the determination	That the money has been released
Current determination	The ATO’s maximum release amount	Cash available today
Release request confirmation and subsequent ATO correspondence	Request date, status and any change to the request	A guaranteed payment date
Receiving-account statement	Amount and date of the actual credit	Acceptance under the lender’s deposit rules
Transfer records and settlement funding statement	Where released funds went and how they contribute to the purchase	Loan approval
Contract and ATO notification confirmation	Purchase details and completion of the notification step	Satisfaction of every scheme condition

Use fund records instead of payslips to establish contributions. The government’s September 2025 fact sheet, checked on 3 October 2026, explains that contributions count when they reach the fund. A payslip can show a deduction before the fund receives it.

Reconcile any difference between the determination and bank receipt using ATO correspondence. Keep the FHSS payment summary when issued for the tax record. Its assessable amount isn’t necessarily the net cash available for settlement.

Source evidence answers where money came from. The lender’s genuine-savings assessment answers whether it meets that lender’s savings rules. Serviceability separately tests repayment capacity, so an accepted source of deposit funds doesn’t establish that the proposed loan is affordable.

Bulma’s Policy Advisor helps a broker check a lender’s deposit-evidence requirements and retain the quoted policy wording. The ATO determination still owns the scheme amount, and the lender owns its lending decision.

Once receipt is verified, update the deposit and funds-to-complete calculation. Include purchase costs and any contract deposit already paid without counting the same released money twice.

Manage Delays and Changed Plans

When release or purchase timing changes, recalculate the cash needed on each due date and keep the ATO obligations active. The government’s September 2025 fact sheet, checked on 3 October 2026, gives 12 months after requesting release to sign a purchase or construction contract. An additional 12 months is generally granted and confirmed in writing, with a maximum period of 24 months.

Retain the extension notice and record the revised deadline. A failed purchase doesn’t reset the original release date. If the buyer changes properties, update the contract details and funding schedule, then confirm that the new purchase still meets the scheme’s residential-use conditions.

For vacant land followed by construction, obtain the determination before the land transfers to the client. The ATO’s main guidance, checked on 3 October 2026, requires a qualifying construction contract within the permitted period. Land purchase alone doesn’t complete that requirement.

If contributions or deductions were entered incorrectly, use the correction process promptly. The November 2025 essentials explains that cancellation or amendment stops being available once the ATO begins processing the FHSS payment. A change can delay payment, so update the lender and conveyancer’s funding assumptions.

For a determination made before 15 September 2024, the same essentials gives a 28-day contract-notification deadline instead of the current 90-day deadline. Flag that older determination for the applicable legacy rules before applying the current sequence.

Whether FHSS is worth using depends on the client’s tax position and purchase plans. Its tax treatment can benefit eligible savers, while release timing and purchase obligations restrict how they use the money. A broker can assess the lending timetable without recommending a personal contribution strategy.

The ATO’s main guidance, checked on 3 October 2026, applies a 30% tax offset to the assessable FHSS released amount. That isn’t a 30% increase in the deposit. A registered tax agent must assess the client’s tax outcome, including the return for the year they request release.

If the client won’t buy within the allowed period, use the ATO’s FHSS guidance note and a qualified adviser for the recontribution or additional-tax route. Keep personal calculations with that adviser. Before relying on the funds in the loan file, confirm the receipt, the lender’s acceptance and sufficient cash for every purchase payment.