Super contribution limits
Super contribution limits
There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Overdo it with your contributions and you might find yourself with unwanted tax bills. Let’s take a closer look at the caps, so you can contribute, get potential generous tax breaks and possibly prevent penalty tax.
Concessional contribution cap
You can make concessional (before-tax) contributions to your super of up to $27,500 each financial year. Employer contributions, including salary sacrifice and any personal contributions you claim as a tax deduction, are all included in this cap. This also includes any insurance fees or administration fees your employer might pay for you on your behalf.
The cap applies per person, not per account. That means if you have multiple accounts you can contribute up to $27,500 in total across all your accounts (not $27,500 for each account). For example, if you have two accounts, you could put $10,000 in one and $17,500 in another.
It’s possible in some years you may have more spare cash to invest than other years. If you find you can contribute more than in a previous financial year, you can use what's called the ‘carry-forward’ rule. As long as your total super balance (see below) is less than $500,000 on 30 June of the previous financial year, the carry-forward rule lets you add the previous year’s unused cap limit to your current cap (over rolling five-year periods).
For example:
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | Total | |
| Scenario 1 –contributing the maximum concessional amount per year | $27,500 | $27,500 | $27,500 | $27,500 | $27,500 | $137,500 |
| Scenario 2 – using the carry forward rule |
$27,500 | $0 (unused cap of $27,500) |
$55,000 | $20,000 (unused cap of $7,500) |
$35,000 | $137,500 |
More on the concessional cap (ATO website) ›
Non-concessional super contribution cap
The cap for non-concessional (after-tax) contributions is $110,000 per financial year. These super contributions could be regular payments made throughout the year or ad hoc, up to $110,000. For example, you might contribute money from an asset sale, inheritance or some of your savings.
The following are considered non-concessional contributions:
- Personal super contributions for which you haven’t claimed a tax deduction
- Super contributions your spouse makes to your super
- Super contributions made by your employer on your behalf from your after-tax salary. This is different to money you may salary sacrifice into your super, which is considered a before-tax contribution and goes towards your concessional cap.
- Concessional (before-tax) contributions to your super that have exceeded the annual concessional cap.
If you exceed the cap…
You must lodge a tax return for that financial year and you might have to pay extra tax.
Members who accessed their super under the government’s COVID early release of super can make after-tax recontributions that don’t count towards the non-concessional cap.
Important info
Your super contributions are counted from the date the payment is allocated by your super fund, not when the payment is sent. If you’re making a contribution before the end of financial year, make sure to leave enough time for the contribution to be received and allocated by your super fund.
The bring-forward rule
Naturally, you won’t always know when you’ll have money to contribute, so non-concessional super contributions also have the ‘bring-forward’ rule. In this case, although there’s a limit of $110,000 per year, you can contribute a total contribution limit of up to $330,000 over three years. It’s quite a boost, but note there are some rules around your age and total super balance that you need to consider.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total contribution cap | |
| Example using the maximum yearly contribution cap without exceeding the cap (i.e. not using bring-forward rule) | $110,000 cap | $110,000 cap | $110,000 cap | $330,000 |
| Example scenario using the bring-forward rule for a member who has not previously triggered the bring forward rule.* |
$120,000 contribution when yearly cap is $110,000. (exceeds cap by $10,000 and triggers bring-forward rule) |
$30,000 contribution (under the yearly cap by $80,000. Total contributions equal $150,000 of permitted $220,000 |
$180,000 contribution (yearly cap of $110,000 plus the unused cap amount of $80,000 |
$330,000 |
*If you’ve already triggered the bring-forward rule in a previous financial year, the cap amount is set based on the cap in the first year of the period. For example, if you trigger the bring-forward rule when the non-concessional cap is $100,000 and it then changed to $110,000, your non-concessional cap over three years will still be $300,000.
More about the bring-forward rule
Age
To be eligible to use the bring-forward rule you must be 74 years or younger at the start of the financial year you make the contribution and your total super balance on 30 June 2023 is:
| Total super balance | Bring-forward amount |
|---|---|
| Less than $1.68 million | $330,000 |
| $1.68 million to less than $1.79 million | $220,000 |
| $1.79 million to less than $1.9 million | $110,000 |
| More than $1.9 million | Nil |
Contributions can be made until the 28th day after the month in which you turn 75.
Your total superannuation balance
For the 2022/23 financial year, your total super balance must be less than $1.7 million at the end of the first financial year that triggers the bring-forward rule.
Let’s take a closer look at some examples, for members with a super balance of less than $1.7 million and under 75 years of age.
More on the non-concessional cap (ATO website) ›
Make a non-concessional super contribution using this form
Total super balance
Your total super balance is the combined value of all your super accounts as at 30 June of each financial year. For example, if you have three super accounts with $100,000 in each, your total super balance is $300,000.
Your total super balance may restrict you from making certain types of super contributions:
- Unused concessional contributions cap to carry-forward
- Non-concessional contributions and eligibility for the bring-forward rule
- Government co-contribution (this relates to the non-concessional contribution cap listed above)
- Tax offsets for spouse super contributions (this relates to the non-concessional cap listed above)
More info on total super balance (ATO website) ›
Log in to see your CareSuper account balance.
Transfer balance cap
When you reach your preservation (retirement) age, you can transfer your money from your super ‘accumulation account’ (where your money has been deposited while you’re working) to your ‘pension account’ (where you can access and use your money in retirement).
However, there are limits on how much you can transfer from your super accumulation account into your retirement (pension) accounts. This is known as the transfer balance cap.
From 1 July 2023, the general transfer balance cap will increase to $1.9 million, but your individual transfer balance cap depends on two factors:
- The cap that applied when you started your first account-based pension or $1.6 million for account-based pensions commenced prior to 1 July 2017.
- Your cap may be increased proportionally for indexation in the cap applied to your unused cap amount. Your personal transfer balance cap will not be increased if you have used the entire cap or exceeded it.
You can see your personal transfer balance cap using ATO online services through myGov.
If you exceed the cap, you may be required to pay extra tax and transfer the excess money out of your retirement accounts. If you need help to set up your accounts so you don’t exceed the transfer balance cap, we can help.
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Financial advice is offered through CareSuper’s relationship with Industry Fund Services Limited (IFS),and is provided by an authorisation under the Australian financial services licence of IFS, ABN 54 007 016 195, AFSL 232514.