Super contribution caps for 2026–27, explained

Super has two annual limits on how much can go in at a favourable tax rate. Go over a limit and extra tax applies. The figures below are for the 2026–27 financial year. Rates are reviewed each year, so check the ATO for the latest.

Concessional contributions: $32,500

Concessional (before-tax) contributions are the money that goes in before income tax is paid on it. They include your employer’s super guarantee, salary sacrificed pay, and personal contributions you claim as a tax deduction. The fund pays 15% contributions tax on them.

The cap is $32,500 for 2026–27, up from $30,000 in 2025–26. Because the employer’s contributions count, a higher salary leaves less room. The super guarantee is 12% of ordinary time earnings, up to a maximum contribution base.

Carrying forward unused cap

If you haven’t used all of the cap in a year, the unused part can be carried forward for up to five years, as long as your total super balance was under $500,000 on the previous 30 June. The oldest unused amount is used first, and each expires after five years. It lets someone with a gap in work, or a large capital gain to offset, put in more than one year’s cap in a single year.

Non-concessional contributions: $130,000

Non-concessional (after-tax) contributions come from money that has already been taxed, and don’t attract contributions tax. The cap is four times the concessional cap, so $130,000 for 2026–27. Whether you can use it depends on your total super balance.

Under 75 at some point in the year, you may be able to bring forward up to three years of the cap in one go. Contributions above the cap are subject to extra tax unless released from the fund.

Division 293: extra tax for high incomes

When income plus concessional contributions is above $250,000, Division 293 adds a further 15% on the concessional contributions above that line, so those contributions are taxed at 30% in the fund.

Division 296: very large balances

From 2026–27, Division 296 taxes the earnings on the part of a total super balance above $3 million at an extra 15%, and on the part above $10 million at a further 10%. The thresholds are indexed in steps over time.

Retirement phase: the transfer balance cap

The general transfer balance cap limits how much can move into a tax-free retirement pension account. It is $2.1 million in 2026–27. Balances above it can stay in an accumulation account, where earnings are taxed at up to 15%. Our post on the transfer balance cap and minimum drawdowns covers the retirement phase in full.

Why the caps matter to a projection

A plan that adds “max super” every year needs the caps to move with the years, with carry-forward and bring-forward applied the way the law applies them. Otherwise it overstates what can go in, or misses what could have. My Runway reads each year’s caps from the published tables, including the years ahead, where it grows them in the steps the law uses.