Super Contribution Caps: Concessional vs Non-Concessional, and Carry-Forward (FY2025-26)

TL;DR

For the 2025-26 financial year the headline super contribution caps are:

Concessional cap: $30,000 per person, per year. Concessional contributions are the ones that have been taxed only at the 15% contributions tax inside super — so Superannuation Guarantee from your employer, salary sacrifice, and personal contributions you claim a deduction for.
Non-concessional cap: $120,000 per person, per year. Non-concessional contributions are after-tax money — savings you have already paid income tax on at the marginal rate, then choose to push into super.

Two enhancements sit on top of those headline numbers:

The 5-year carry-forward rule, available to anyone with a Total Super Balance under $500,000 at the previous 30 June, lets you use up unused concessional cap from any of the last five financial years. A worker who has been on parental leave for two years could potentially contribute $90,000 of concessional contributions in a single FY2025-26.
The 3-year bring-forward rule lets people under 75 (subject to TSB caps) contribute up to $360,000 of non-concessional contributions in one year by bringing forward the next two years' caps.

Once Total Super Balance crosses $1.9 million (the FY2025-26 cap), non-concessional contributions are blocked entirely. Once it crosses $2 million (the FY2025-26 transfer balance cap), pension-phase rules tighten.

The Salary Sacrifice Super Calculator, the Super Carry-Forward Cap Calculator and the Super Non-Concessional Cap Calculator implement these caps for FY2025-26.

How concessional vs non-concessional actually differs

The key thing to understand: the two caps cover entirely different kinds of money, taxed at different points.

Concessional contributions have been deducted from pre-tax income. Your employer's compulsory 11.5% Superannuation Guarantee, your salary sacrifice, your "personal deductible" contributions claimed via a Notice of Intent — all concessional. The price you pay for the lower-tax-on-the-way-in is 15% contributions tax at the fund level (or 30% under Division 293 if your income exceeds the threshold). The cap for FY2025-26 is $30,000.

Non-concessional contributions are made from after-tax money. You have already paid income tax on the dollars at your marginal rate. They go into super untaxed, accumulate at the 15% earnings tax inside super, and form the "tax-free component" you can withdraw later without further tax. The cap for FY2025-26 is $120,000.

If you exceed the concessional cap, the excess is added to your assessable income, taxed at your marginal rate, and you receive a 15% offset for the contributions tax already paid. There is also a small excess concessional contributions charge (effectively interest) levied at the shortfall interest charge rate.

If you exceed the non-concessional cap, you are given a 60-day window to withdraw the excess. If you do not, the excess is taxed at the top marginal rate (45% plus Medicare = 47%). Avoid this by tracking your contributions carefully — the Super Non-Concessional Cap Calculator will show you the buffer remaining in the current year.

The 5-year carry-forward rule

Carry-forward applies to concessional contributions only. To use it you must:

Have a Total Super Balance under $500,000 at the previous 30 June (i.e. the start of the relevant financial year).
Have unused cap space in any of the previous five financial years (oldest year forfeits first).

Example. Sarah, a primary teacher, was on parental leave from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2025. Her TSB at 30 June 2025 is $210,000. Her concessional contributions during the leave years were:

FY2023-24: $5,000 (small SG on return-to-work backpay) → unused cap $22,500.
FY2024-25: $0 → unused cap $30,000.

In FY2025-26 she returns to full-time work and decides to contribute as much as legally possible while the cap allows. Her concessional cap for FY2025-26 = $30,000 (FY2025-26 base) + $30,000 (FY2024-25 carry-forward) + $22,500 (FY2023-24 carry-forward) = $82,500.

Sarah contributes $82,500 of concessional contributions in a year where her marginal rate is 30%. Tax saving = ($82,500 × 30%) − ($82,500 × 15%) = $12,375 in income tax versus 15% contributions tax. Net cash saving versus contributing the same money out of after-tax savings: about $12,375 plus the long-tail compounding of the 15% earnings tax inside super.

Carry-forward is best used in years of high marginal income (a one-off bonus, an inheritance you do not need now, or a sale-of-property year) where the marginal rate is at its highest.

The 3-year bring-forward rule

Bring-forward applies to non-concessional contributions only. To use it you must:

Be under 75 at the start of the financial year.
Have a Total Super Balance below the relevant cap (FY2025-26: $1.9 million).

The cap brought forward depends on your TSB at the previous 30 June:

TSB at previous 30 June	Bring-forward available
Below $1.66 million	3-year bring-forward = $360,000
$1.66M – $1.78M	2-year bring-forward = $240,000
$1.78M – $1.9M	1-year only = $120,000 (no bring-forward)
$1.9M+	$0 (cap reached)

Bring-forward is "all or nothing" in the sense that once you trigger it (by contributing more than $120,000 in one year), the next two years' caps are deemed used and you cannot contribute non-concessionally again for two years.

A common pattern: a sale of a residential property generates $700,000 of after-tax cash. The owner contributes $360,000 in year 1 (using the bring-forward) and lodges the rest into a personal savings account. They cannot contribute non-concessionally to super again until 1 July of year 4.

Official source

ATO — Concessional contributions cap — ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/super-for-individuals-and-families
ATO — Non-concessional contributions cap — same parent page.
Treasury — Better targeted superannuation concessions — treasury.gov.au.
ASIC ASIC's MoneySmart — Super contributions — moneysmart.gov.au.

The ATO is the operational source for caps, thresholds and the indexation methodology. The MoneySmart page is a useful plain-English overview for first-time contributors. Treasury is where the legislative changes (e.g. the proposed "Division 296" 30% earnings tax on TSB above $3 million) are first published.

Worked examples

The numbers below assume a resident taxpayer, a complying super fund, no existing excess contributions and a 30 June TSB below the bring-forward cap unless stated otherwise.

Example 1 — Mid-career professional, "max out" strategy

Salary: $140,000
Compulsory SG (11.5%): $16,100 (employer pays on top)
Existing super balance at 30 June 2025: $320,000
Marginal income tax rate: 37%

The professional decides to max out concessional contributions for FY2025-26. Total concessional cap = $30,000. SG already eats $16,100, leaving $13,900 of room for salary sacrifice.

Net tax saving: ($13,900 × 37%) − ($13,900 × 15%) = $3,058 per year.

Their TSB is well under $500,000 so they could also use the 5-year carry-forward if they had unused space in previous years — but if they have been steadily salary-sacrificing close to the cap each year there is no carry-forward available. The carry-forward rule rewards interrupted contribution histories (parental leave, gap years, mid-career career change).

Across a 25-year career, a $13,900 annual sacrifice at 7% real return compounds to roughly $880,000 of post-tax super at age 65. The same $13,900 saved as after-tax cash at a 5% real return compounds to roughly $663,000 — but that comparison is not quite fair because the $13,900 was pre-tax money. Adjusting like-for-like (so $13,900 pre-tax = $8,757 post-tax for a 37% marginal earner), the net difference favours super by 30 to 40% of accumulated wealth at retirement.

Example 2 — Carry-forward after parental leave

Sarah, returning teacher (Example above continued).
TSB at 30 June 2025: $210,000.
Salary FY2025-26: $95,000.
Marginal income tax rate: 30%.
Carry-forward available from FY2023-24 ($22,500) and FY2024-25 ($30,000) = $52,500.

Sarah's available concessional cap = $30,000 (current year) + $52,500 (carry-forward) = $82,500.

If Sarah salary-sacrifices the full $82,500 from her $95,000 salary, her cash-take-home would be near zero. Realistically she can sacrifice maybe $25,000 from current income while topping up with $30,000 of accumulated savings (treated as "personal deductible" contributions via a Notice of Intent), claiming the deduction against her taxable income.

Net result: salary $95,000 − $25,000 sacrifice − $30,000 deductible personal = $40,000 taxable. Tax on $40,000 ≈ $3,488 (FY2025-26 schedule with LITO). Tax saved versus the no-sacrifice baseline: roughly $15,000. Cost: 15% of $55,000 = $8,250 contributions tax. Net cash saved: about $6,750 for the year, plus the long-tail compounding of the $55,000 invested in super at the lower 15% earnings tax rate.

The catch: she needs the cash to make the personal deductible contribution. Many returners-to-work do not have $30,000 of liquid savings sitting around. Where the cash does exist (for instance, a divorce settlement or a small inheritance), the carry-forward is extraordinarily powerful.

Example 3 — Pre-retirement non-concessional contribution

Mark, age 62, planning to retire at 67.
Existing super balance: $1.55 million at 30 June 2025.
Just sold an investment property for $900,000 net proceeds (CGT already paid).
Marginal income tax rate this year: 39% (after CGT discount).

Mark wants to push as much of the $900,000 into super as legally possible. His TSB ($1.55M) is below $1.66M, so the 3-year bring-forward is available: $360,000.

He triggers the bring-forward by contributing $360,000 in FY2025-26. His TSB rises to roughly $1.91M. He cannot contribute non-concessionally again until 1 July 2028 (when the bring-forward window resets). At age 65 (1 July 2028), his TSB is now above $1.9M, so he is generally blocked from further non-concessional contributions.

Once he reaches preservation age and retires, the $360,000 sits in the tax-free component of his super and can be drawn down as a tax-free pension. Compared to keeping the same $360,000 in a personal investment account taxed at 39% marginal rate on income, the lifetime difference is roughly $300,000 to $500,000 depending on returns and drawdown shape — a material number.

The trade-off: the money is locked up until preservation age and the rules can change between now and then. The 2025-26 Federal Budget flagged the proposed Division 296 measure, a 30% earnings tax on the share of earnings above a $3 million TSB threshold; if passed, that would change the calculation for the very largest balances.

Common pitfalls

Mixing up the two caps. Concessional and non-concessional caps are entirely separate — you can hit both in the same year (subject to TSB). A salary-sacrificing employee can also make a $120,000 non-concessional contribution without affecting the concessional cap.
Forgetting the SG counts toward the concessional cap. The 11.5% Superannuation Guarantee from your employer is a concessional contribution. If your salary is $260,000+, the SG alone may push you over the $30,000 cap before you sacrifice a single dollar yourself. Check the employer SG figure first; some employers cap SG at the maximum super contribution base ($65,070/quarter for FY2025-26) which limits this.
Triggering bring-forward without planning the next two years. Once triggered, you cannot contribute non-concessionally again for two years. If you have a planned inheritance arriving in year 2 or 3, time the bring-forward with care.
Late Notice of Intent. To claim a personal deductible contribution, you must lodge a Notice of Intent with your fund before lodging your tax return for that year. Miss the deadline and the deduction is lost. The fund acknowledges receipt and the receipt is the legal trigger.
Ignoring Division 293 tax. Income above $250,000 (including reportable super) triggers Division 293, an extra 15% tax on concessional contributions. This raises the effective concessional contributions tax to 30% — still less than the 45% top marginal rate on ordinary income, but the gap is smaller than the headline 15% suggests. The Division 293 Calculator tracks the threshold check.
Confusing TSB with member balance. The Total Super Balance is the balance across all your super funds at 30 June, including any retirement-phase pensions. The carry-forward $500,000 cap and the bring-forward $1.66M / $1.78M / $1.9M tiers all use the TSB, not just your accumulation balance.
Believing the caps are indexed every year. The concessional cap is indexed in $2,500 increments, the non-concessional in $5,000 increments — so they tick up only when AWOTE growth crosses the increment. The cap stayed at $27,500 from FY2021-22 to FY2023-24, and then jumped to $30,000 for FY2024-25 onwards. Plan for "sticky" caps, not annual changes. The non-concessional cap moves in lockstep at four times the concessional cap.
Not understanding the work test. From age 67 to 74 you can still make voluntary contributions, but to claim a deduction on a personal concessional contribution you need to have worked at least 40 hours in 30 consecutive days during the year (the work test). This was relaxed in 2022 — it now only applies for the deduction, not the contribution itself.

The $3 million Total Super Balance proposal (Division 296)

Treasury's Better targeted superannuation concessions proposal — known informally as Division 296 — would add a 15% extra earnings tax on the share of earnings attributable to a TSB above $3 million. Combined with the existing 15% earnings tax on super, the marginal earnings rate on balances above $3 million would be 30%.

If you are reading this in 2026, the measure has been progressing through Parliament and remains contested. The mechanics worth understanding:

It applies to earnings, not contributions. Contributions caps are unaffected.
It is calculated on a proportional basis: if 60% of your TSB sits above $3 million, then 60% of that year's earnings are subject to the extra 15%.
Earnings include unrealised gains for the year, which is the most contested feature; many critics argue this is unprecedented in Australian tax design.
The threshold is not currently indexed.

For balances under $3 million the proposal makes no difference. For balances of $4 million or more, the calculation can shift the after-tax case for super versus a personal investment portfolio. If this affects you, get formal advice — the dollar amounts are large enough that the cost of advice is trivial.

How the SG schedule interacts with the cap

The Superannuation Guarantee was 11.5% for FY2024-25 and is 12.0% from 1 July 2025 (FY2025-26). It steps up by 0.5 percentage points each financial year until it reaches 12.0% — which it has now done. That means the SG ceiling at the maximum super contribution base of $65,070 per quarter (FY2025-26) is roughly $7,808 per quarter, or $31,232 per year.

For an executive on a $700,000 salary, the SG component alone can be capped at about $31,232 per year by the maximum-base rule, leaving almost no room for additional concessional sacrifice within the $30,000 cap. Some executives instead use after-tax non-concessional contributions or focus on the carry-forward over time. The interaction is fund- and employer-specific; the maximum super contribution base is published quarterly by the ATO.

When carry-forward is not worth it

Carry-forward is mathematically attractive when your marginal income tax rate is higher than 15%, and increasingly attractive at 30%, 37% and 45%. But it is not free:

The cash has to come from somewhere. A $50,000 personal deductible contribution requires $50,000 of liquid savings.
If your TSB rises above $500,000 at any future 30 June, you lose access to carry-forward from that year onwards. The window can be narrow.
The money is locked until preservation age. A $50,000 contribution today is worth roughly $190,000 by age 65 at 7% real return, but you cannot draw it before preservation age except in extreme hardship circumstances.

For a young saver with a 30-year horizon and no immediate liquidity needs, the trade-off is generally worth it. For a saver in their 50s who plans to use the money for a pre-retirement renovation in 5 years, after-tax savings outside super are usually a better fit despite the lower tax efficiency — the access matters.

Spouse splitting and the $540 tax offset

Couples with one low-income partner can shift up to 85% of one year's concessional contributions to the other partner's account using contribution splitting. The split must be lodged with the fund within the financial year following the contribution year, and the lower-income partner must be under preservation age (or under 65, whichever is later).

Separately, the spouse contribution tax offset gives the contributor up to $540 per year as an income tax offset for a non-concessional contribution made to a low-income spouse's super. The offset is 18% of the first $3,000 of contribution, phasing out as the receiving spouse's income rises above $37,000 and ending at $40,000.

Used together, splitting and the spouse offset can be powerful for couples with very different incomes — particularly during one partner's parental leave or career break years. The Spouse Super Contribution Calculator walks through the offset eligibility and the dollar value.

Related calculators

Salary Sacrifice Super Calculator — model the year-by-year tax saving from concessional contributions.
Super Carry-Forward Cap Calculator — track unused cap from the past five financial years.
Super Non-Concessional Cap Calculator — confirm bring-forward eligibility based on TSB.
Division 293 Tax Calculator — verify whether you trip the $250,000 income threshold.
Spouse Super Contribution Calculator — for couples with one low-income partner, the spouse contribution tax offset of up to $540 per year.
Downsizer Super Contribution Calculator — the $300,000 over-55 home-sale contribution that sits outside the non-concessional cap.
First Home Super Saver Calculator — the up-to-$50,000 voluntary contribution that can be withdrawn for a first home deposit, sharing the same concessional and non-concessional caps.
Super Co-Contribution Calculator — the up-to-$500 government top-up for low-income earners who make non-concessional contributions.

A note on the timing of contributions

A contribution is "made" for cap purposes on the date the fund receives the money — not the date you initiated the transfer. BPay can take up to three business days. Direct credit can take longer if it crosses a weekend or public holiday. If you are deliberately running close to the cap, target a contribution date no later than 20 June to be confident the fund receives the money before 30 June. Contributions received on 1 July count to the new financial year's cap, which can sometimes be the better option.

This article is general information based on the FY2025-26 caps and the ATO and Treasury documents linked above. It is not personal financial advice. Talk to a licensed adviser, registered tax agent or your fund's intra-fund advice team before making a contribution decision; the figures will be revisited each May after the Federal Budget.