Super Contributions Calculator

Concessional contributions go in before tax: your employer's super guarantee, salary sacrifice, and personal contributions you claim a tax deduction for. The fund pays 15% contributions tax on them. The cap for 2026-27 is $32,500.

Non-concessional contributions go in from money you've already paid tax on, and you don't claim a deduction. There's no contributions tax. The yearly cap is four times the concessional cap: $130,000 in 2026-27.

A dollar of salary is taxed at your marginal rate plus the 2% Medicare levy. The same dollar sacrificed or contributed and deducted is taxed at 15% in the fund. The difference is the saving.

On a $100,000 salary in 2026-27, your marginal rate is 30% plus Medicare. Adding $5,000 of salary sacrifice and a $5,000 personal deductible contribution cuts your income tax and Medicare by $3,200. The fund pays $1,500 of contributions tax, so you're $1,700 better off. Your employer's $12,000 of super guarantee plus the extra $10,000 is $22,000, leaving $10,500 of room under the cap.

Below $45,000 the saving is small, because your rate (15% in 2026-27) is about the same as the fund's. If your income is $37,000 or less, the low income super tax offset refunds the contributions tax on up to $500 of it to your super.

They're taxed the same way. Salary sacrifice comes out of your pay before tax, so you get the saving each pay. A personal deductible contribution is paid from your bank account, and you get the tax back when you lodge your return.

For a deductible contribution you must send your fund a notice of intent to claim and get its acknowledgement before you lodge your tax return (and before you roll the money to another fund or withdraw it). If you're 67 to 74, you also need to meet the work test to claim the deduction.

If your total super balance was under $500,000 on 30 June of the previous year, you can use unused concessional cap from the last five years on top of this year's cap. Unused amounts expire after five years. myGov shows your available amount under ATO > Super > Carry-forward concessional contributions.

Carry-forward is useful in a big income year, for example after selling shares or an investment property, because a larger deductible contribution offsets more of the gain.

If your income plus concessional contributions is over $250,000, Division 293 adds another 15% to some or all of your contributions. On a $260,000 salary, a $1,000 deductible contribution saves $470 of income tax at 47%, but costs $150 in contributions tax and $150 in Division 293, so the net saving is $170.

Concessional contributions over your cap are added to your taxable income and taxed at your marginal rate, with a 15% offset for the tax the fund already paid. Non-concessional contributions over the cap can be withdrawn, or they're taxed at 47%. You may be able to bring forward two future years of non-concessional cap and contribute up to three years' worth at once, depending on your total super balance.

It uses resident tax rates for the year you pick and assumes you're under the transfer balance limits for non-concessional contributions. It doesn't include the government co-contribution, the spouse contribution offset, HECS (reportable super is added back for HECS, so contributions don't lower it), or the Medicare levy surcharge. To see what extra contributions grow to by retirement, use the super projection calculator.