How salary sacrificing to super works
Money you sacrifice into super skips income tax at your marginal rate and is taxed at a flat 15% inside the fund instead. On a $100,000 salary that's the difference between losing 32c of every dollar and losing 15c: an instant ~25% uplift on money you were going to save anyway. The trade: it's locked away until retirement, and the cap below limits how much gets the concession.
The $32,500 concessional cap includes employer super
All concessional contributions count towards the one cap: your employer's compulsory 12%, anything you sacrifice, and personal contributions you claim a deduction for. The calculator warns you when the combination goes over. If you've had years of low contributions and your super balance is under $500,000, carry-forward rules may let you exceed the annual cap using up to five years of unused amounts.
Sacrificing doesn't cut your HECS repayment
Salary sacrifice reduces your taxable income, but HECS/HELP repayments are calculated on repayment income, which adds reportable super contributions straight back. Sacrifice $10,000 and your income tax falls, but your compulsory HELP repayment doesn't move a dollar. Tick the HELP box in the calculator to see this in your numbers, and check your repayment with our HECS repayment calculator.
When it's less worth it
- Lower incomes: under $45,000 the marginal-vs-15% gap is small; below the tax-free threshold it's negative.
- Very high incomes: above $250,000, Division 293 trims the saving on contributions over the threshold.
- Money you'll need soon: contributions are preserved, usually until age 60.
Frequently asked questions
Is salary sacrificing worth it on a lower income?
Under about $45,000 your marginal rate (15% plus Medicare in 2026-27) is barely above the 15% contributions tax. Low-income earners may do better with after-tax contributions and the government co-contribution.
What is Division 293 tax?
An extra 15% tax on contributions above the $250,000 threshold, an effective 30% on those contributions. That's still below the top marginal rates, so sacrificing usually remains worthwhile, just less so.
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.
- Division 293 tax on concessional contributions by high-income earners (ATO), checked 25 August 2026.
- Study and training support loans rates and repayment thresholds (ATO), checked 27 July 2026.
- Tax rates for Australian residents (ATO), checked 27 July 2026.
Related calculators
HECS/HELP repayment calculator: see your repayment income in full. Take-home pay calculator: how much of a raise you keep. Novated lease calculator: the other big salary-packaging decision.
Figures current as at 27 July 2026, verified against ATO published rates; see our methodology. General information only, not financial advice.