The cap, and what counts
Concessional contributions are the before-tax ones: your employer's compulsory super guarantee, anything you salary sacrifice, and personal contributions you claim as a tax deduction. Together, across all your funds, they're capped at $32,500 for 2026-27 (up from $30,000). Inside the cap, contributions are taxed at 15% in the fund instead of your marginal rate, which is the whole attraction. Fund-paid insurance premiums or fees covered by your employer also count, which surprises people near the line.
Headroom after employer super
Because the 12% super guarantee eats cap first, the space left for salary sacrifice depends on your salary:
| Salary | Employer SG (12%) | Cap headroom left |
|---|---|---|
| $70,000 | $8,400 | $24,100 |
| $90,000 | $10,800 | $21,700 |
| $110,000 | $13,200 | $19,300 |
| $140,000 | $16,800 | $15,700 |
| $180,000 | $21,600 | $10,900 |
Our salary sacrifice calculator does this arithmetic for your exact salary, warns as you approach the cap, and shows the tax saved per dollar sacrificed.
Carry-forward: the 5-year catch-up
If your total super balance was under $500,000 at 30 June of the previous financial year, unused cap amounts from up to five previous years stack on top of this year's cap. The rules that matter:
- Five-year shelf life. Each year's unused amount expires five years on; an unused 2021-22 amount not used by the end of 2026-27 lapses.
- Oldest first, automatically. You don't elect anything: once your contributions exceed the general cap, the ATO applies your oldest available unused amounts first.
- The balance test is annual. Over $500,000 one 30 June locks you out for that year, but a lower balance the following 30 June lets you back in. The unused amounts keep accumulating either way.
- Check before you contribute. ATO online services (Super, then Carry forward concessional contributions) shows your exact available amount; funds report on a lag, so recent contributions may not appear yet.
If you go over
Exceeding the cap isn't a catastrophe, it's mostly an unwind: the excess is added to your assessable income, taxed at your marginal rate less a 15% offset, and you can release up to 85% of it from the fund to pay the bill. The risk is doing nothing: unreleased excess counts towards your non-concessional cap too, where the compounding penalties live. If the ATO sends a determination letter, act on it within the 60-day election window.
Worth knowing alongside
- Division 293: above $250,000 of combined income and contributions, an extra 15% tax applies to concessional contributions, halving the concession for high earners.
- HECS/HELP: salary-sacrificed super counts towards your repayment income, so sacrificing doesn't reduce a HELP repayment (see what counts as repayment income).
- Payday super: from 1 July 2026 employers pay super each payday, so contributions land in your fund (and against your cap) sooner than under the old quarterly cycle.
Frequently asked questions
What is the concessional contributions cap for 2026-27?
$32,500, up from $30,000. The cap indexes in $2,500 increments in line with average weekly ordinary time earnings.
When do contributions count: when paid or when received?
When your fund receives them. A June salary-sacrifice amount your employer forwards in July counts towards next year's cap. With payday super from 1 July 2026, contributions flow through faster, but the received-by-the-fund rule still decides which year a contribution lands in.
Sources
Figures on this page come from the following primary sources. The date is when we last checked the page against the source.
- Concessional contributions cap (ATO), checked 6 August 2026.
- Super guarantee (ATO), checked 27 July 2026.
- Division 293 tax on concessional contributions by high-income earners (ATO), checked 25 August 2026.
Related
Salary sacrifice calculator: your tax saving and cap position for 2026-27. Tax brackets guide: the marginal rates the 15% contributions tax is competing with. Take-home pay calculator: whether to take a raise as cash or super.
Figures current as at 6 August 2026. Cap and carry-forward rules verified against the ATO concessional contributions cap page; see our methodology. General information only, not financial advice.