A recent tax case involved a superannuation contribution of $7,215 mailed by the taxpayer's employer on 28 June 2007 but which was not recorded as income by the fund until 5 July 2007. Unfortunately, the taxpayer ignored the amount as a contribution for the 2007/08 year, and contributed another $50,000 to the fund – exceeding the super cap by more than $7,000.

The ATO issued an Excess Contributions Assessment – on the contributions above the $50,000 cap. The Tribunal held that there were no special circumstances which would allow the Commissioner or the Tribunal to allocate the amount to another year.

The taxpayer simply got it wrong and "ignorance of that kind is not a special circumstance".