Important note before you read on: At Growthwise, we're accountants not financial planners. This post covers the tax treatment of super contributions only. It's factual information, not financial advice.
TL;DR – What You Need to Know
- Concessional contributions (including personal deductible contributions) are taxed at 15% inside super
- The concessional contributions cap for 2025–26 is $30,000 and for 2026-2027 is $32,500.
- To claim a personal deductible contribution, you must lodge a Notice of Intent with your super fund and receive acknowledgement before lodging your tax return.
- You may be able to claim an 18% tax offset (up to $540) on contributions made to a low-income spouse’s super.
Super and tax interact in a few specific ways that are worth understanding at tax time. Whether you're employed, self-employed, or looking at ways to reduce your taxable income here's how it works.
Concessional Contributions — What Are They?
Concessional contributions are contributions made into super before tax. Meaning they're taxed at 15% inside the super fund rather than at your marginal income tax rate.
They include:
- Employer contributions — the 12% your employer pays (from 1 July 2025) as part of the Superannuation Guarantee
- Salary sacrifice — additional contributions made by arrangement with your employer from your pre-tax salary
- Personal deductible contributions — contributions you make yourself and then claim as a tax deduction (see below)
The concessional contributions cap
For the 2025–26 financial year, the concessional contributions cap is $30,000 per year. This is the total of all concessional contributions — employer + salary sacrifice + any personal deductible contributions combined. This increases to $32,500 starting 1 July 2026.
If you exceed the cap, the excess is included in your assessable income and taxed at your marginal rate (with a 15% offset for the contributions tax already paid inside the fund). Going over the cap is not the end of the world, but it's worth being aware of the limit if you're planning additional contributions.
Carry-forward unused cap amounts
If your total super balance was below $500,000 at 30 June of the previous year, you may be able to carry forward unused concessional cap amounts from up to five prior financial years and make a larger contribution in one year. This can be useful if you've had gaps in employment or a period of lower income.
Your available carry-forward amounts are visible in your ATO online services through myGov.
Claiming a Deduction for Personal Super Contributions
If you're self-employed, a contractor, or your employer doesn't offer salary sacrifice — or if you've simply made extra contributions from your own bank account — you may be able to claim those contributions as a tax deduction.
This is called a personal deductible contribution, and to claim it you must:
- Make the contribution — transfer the money into your super account during the financial year (i.e. before 30 June 2026 for the 2025–26 return)
- Lodge a Notice of Intent to Claim — you must complete and submit a Notice of intent to claim or vary a deduction for personal super contributions form with your super fund before you lodge your tax return, before you withdraw or rollover the amount, and before the end of the financial year following the year the contribution was made
- Receive acknowledgement from your fund — the fund must acknowledge your notice before you claim the deduction
- Include it in your tax return — we then claim the deduction in your return
The notice of intent step is critical. If you skip it or lodge your return before sending the notice, you lose the deduction. No exceptions.
The contribution must also fall within your concessional contributions cap once combined with your employer contributions.
What's the benefit?
If you're on a 32% marginal rate (including Medicare), you pay 32% tax on that income normally. If you put it into super as a deductible contribution, you pay 15% inside the fund instead — a saving of 17 cents per dollar. The higher your marginal rate, the bigger the saving.
This isn't a decision to make based purely on tax. Super is locked away until preservation age. We can tell you the tax outcome; but you need to decide whether it's the right strategy for your circumstances.
Spouse Contributions
If your spouse earns a low income (or no income), you may be able to make a contribution to their super and claim an 18% tax offset on up to $3,000 of the contribution.
To be eligible:
- Your spouse's assessable income (including reportable fringe benefits and reportable employer super contributions) must be less than $37,000 for the full $540 offset (the offset phases out completely once their income exceeds $40,000)
- The contribution must be a non-concessional (after-tax) contribution — not salary sacrifice or employer contributions
- Your spouse must be under age 75 and not have exceeded their non-concessional contributions cap
The maximum tax offset is $540 (18% of $3,000). Contributions above $3,000 don't attract additional offset, but can still be made.
The contribution goes into your spouse's super account and counts toward their non-concessional contributions cap (currently $120,000 per year).
Non-Concessional Contributions — a quick note
Non-concessional contributions are after-tax contributions — money you put into super from your own savings, with no tax deduction claimed. They're not taxed inside the fund (because you've already paid tax on the money) and they don't appear as a deduction on your return.
The annual cap is $120,000 (or up to $360,000 under the bring-forward rule if eligible). If you exceed this cap, the excess is generally returned to you with associated earnings, and you pay tax on the earnings.
We don't claim these as a deduction.
Division 293 Tax — for higher earners
If your combined income and concessional super contributions exceed $250,000, you may be liable for Division 293 tax — an additional 15% tax on the concessional contributions that fall above the threshold.
The ATO calculates and assesses this automatically after you lodge. It's not something you calculate yourself, but it is something to be aware of if your income is in that range.
You can then choose to pay the extra tax from your Super or from personal funds.
What to tell us
When you complete the Growthwise 2026 Tax Return Checklist, we'll ask about super. Make sure you:
- Have your super fund annual statement available
- Note any personal contributions you've made and whether you've lodged a notice of intent with your fund
- Note any spouse contributions you've made during the year
- Flag if you've made large non-concessional contributions
