Super Carry-Forward Cap Calculator AU 2025-26

How carry-forward concessional contributions work

Since 1 July 2018 Australians have been able to carry forward any unused portion of the annual concessional contributions cap for up to five financial years and use that accumulated headroom on top of the current year cap. The mechanism was designed by Treasury to help people whose super contributions are uneven — career breaks, parental leave, freelance income years, or just a late start — catch up to a comparable level of pre-tax super without losing the relative tax efficiency of concessional contributions.

The rule is straightforward in concept: in a given financial year, your available concessional cap is the standard annual cap plus any unused cap carried forward from the previous five financial years, provided you meet the total super balance test. Use it or lose it: the oldest year of unused cap rolls off the back of the window each 1 July.

For FY2025-26 the look-back window is FY2020-21 through FY2024-25. The annual concessional cap was A$25,000 in FY2020-21, A$27,500 from FY2021-22 to FY2023-24, and A$30,000 from FY2024-25 onwards. Anything you did not contribute (employer Super Guarantee + salary-sacrifice + personal deductible contributions combined) up to those caps in those years is carry-forward-eligible — subject to TSB.

The A$500,000 total super balance test

The carry-forward only becomes available if your total super balance (TSB) on 30 June of the previous financial year was under A$500,000. For FY2025-26 the relevant snapshot is 30 June 2025. If your TSB on that date was A$499,999 you are eligible for the year; if it was A$500,000 or more you are not, and you can only contribute up to the standard A$30,000 annual cap.

TSB is broadly the sum of your accumulation phase super, the value of your retirement-phase pensions (using the special transfer balance value where relevant), in-transit rollovers between funds and certain limited recourse borrowing arrangements, less structured settlement amounts. The ATO calculates the figure from your fund's annual member statements and shows it under the Super menu in myGov ATO online services.

A few points worth flagging:

• The test is per individual, not per couple. A spouse with a TSB under A$500,000 can still use carry-forward even if the other spouse cannot.
• The test happens once a year, on 30 June. A balance that crosses A$500,000 mid-year does not affect the current year's eligibility — only the following year's.
• A market correction or large pension payment that takes the TSB back under A$500,000 on a future 30 June restores eligibility for the year that starts immediately after.

Concessional cap history FY2020-21 to FY2025-26

Financial year	Annual concessional cap	Used in calculator look-back?
FY2020-21	A$25,000	Yes — expires on 30 June 2026
FY2021-22	A$27,500	Yes
FY2022-23	A$27,500	Yes
FY2023-24	A$27,500	Yes
FY2024-25	A$30,000	Yes
FY2025-26	A$30,000	Current year

The FY2020-21 cap of A$25,000 was the last year of the old single-tier cap regime; from FY2021-22 the cap was indexed in A$2,500 increments by the Average Weekly Ordinary Time Earnings (AWOTE) measure published by the ABS.

Five-year rolling expiry: what lapses on 30 June 2026

The five-year window is the single most important practical detail of the rule. Unused cap that is not consumed within five financial years drops permanently out of the carry-forward stack — it is not transferred to the next year and it cannot be reclaimed by amending earlier returns.

For FY2025-26 the slice at risk is the unused FY2020-21 portion. Whatever fraction of the A$25,000 FY2020-21 cap is still unused after FY2020-21 itself plus the four years since (FY2021-22 to FY2024-25) is the expiring portion. After 30 June 2026 it is gone.

Worked illustrations:

• A taxpayer who contributed A$10,000 of concessional contributions in FY2020-21 and has not used any carry-forward since has A$15,000 of FY2020-21 unused cap. That A$15,000 is the expiring portion on 30 June 2026.
• A taxpayer who contributed A$25,000 (or more) in FY2020-21 has A$0 expiring. Their carry-forward stack only contains FY2021-22 onwards.
• A taxpayer who already used some carry-forward in FY2024-25 has reduced unused balances proportionally — the ATO consumes the oldest unused year first when carry-forward is used, but for the expiring-portion test what matters is what is still labelled FY2020-21 unused on 30 June 2026.

Division 293 interaction

A large catch-up contribution can lift Division 293 income across the A$250,000 threshold even when taxable income is well below it. Division 293 income is broadly taxable income + reportable fringe benefits + total net investment loss + low-tax (concessional) contributions for the year. Division 293 tax is an extra 15% on the lesser of the excess over A$250,000 or the low-tax contributions for the year.

Three illustrative cases:

• Comfortably under threshold. Taxable income A$140,000, no RFB or net loss. A A$50,000 catch-up contribution lifts Division 293 income to A$190,000 — still below the threshold. No Division 293 tax applies; the marginal-rate saving is the full A$50,000 × (marginal rate − 15%).
• Over threshold by part of the contribution. Taxable income A$220,000, no RFB or net loss. A A$50,000 catch-up lifts Division 293 income to A$270,000 — A$20,000 over the threshold. Division 293 tax applies on the lesser of A$20,000 (excess) or A$50,000 (low-tax contribution) = A$20,000 × 15% = A$3,000.
• Already well above threshold. Taxable income A$260,000, no RFB or net loss. The taxpayer is already over the threshold without the contribution. The full A$50,000 catch-up adds A$50,000 of low-tax contributions; Division 293 tax = min(A$50,000, A$310,000 − A$250,000) × 15% = A$50,000 × 15% = A$7,500.

The calculator nets this estimated Division 293 tax off the marginal-rate saving so the headline figure is closer to the after-Division-293 result.

Worked examples

1. Standard catch-up (under-employed years)

Sam, 42, returned to full-time work after a four-year career break and now earns A$120,000. TSB on 30 June 2025 is A$220,000. Concessional contributions used per year were A$5,000 (FY2020-21), A$5,000 (FY2021-22), A$10,000 (FY2022-23), A$11,000 (FY2023-24) and A$13,200 (FY2024-25). FY2025-26 employer SG to date is A$8,000.

Unused per year:

• FY2020-21: A$25,000 − A$5,000 = A$20,000
• FY2021-22: A$27,500 − A$5,000 = A$22,500
• FY2022-23: A$27,500 − A$10,000 = A$17,500
• FY2023-24: A$27,500 − A$11,000 = A$16,500
• FY2024-25: A$30,000 − A$13,200 = A$16,800

Total carry-forward available: A$93,300. Maximum concessional cap for FY2025-26 = A$30,000 + A$93,300 = A$123,300. Sam plans a A$30,000 catch-up before 30 June 2026; her marginal rate is 32.5% (including 2% Medicare Levy). Gross saving = A$30,000 × (0.325 − 0.15) = A$5,250. Division 293 not triggered. The expiring portion at 30 June 2026 is A$20,000.

2. TSB over threshold

Riley, 55, has a TSB on 30 June 2025 of A$640,000 from a long career. Carry-forward is not available in FY2025-26. The maximum concessional cap is the standard A$30,000. Even if Riley has substantial unused cap from earlier years, none of it can be used until a future 30 June where the TSB drops back under A$500,000 (most likely after retirement-phase drawdowns or a market dip).

3. Division 293 trigger on bonus year

Alex, 38, has a TSB on 30 June 2025 of A$310,000 and earns A$210,000 in FY2025-26 plus a A$60,000 RSU vest landing in March. Concessional contributions used per year FY2020-21 to FY2024-25 are A$11,000 each. Total carry-forward = A$25,000 − A$11,000 + (A$27,500 − A$11,000) × 3 + (A$30,000 − A$11,000) = A$14,000 + A$49,500 + A$19,000 = A$82,500.

Alex plans a A$60,000 catch-up. Maximum cap = A$30,000 + A$82,500 = A$112,500, so the contribution fits. Division 293 income before the contribution is roughly A$210,000 + A$60,000 = A$270,000, already above threshold. Division 293 tax on the catch-up = min(A$60,000, excess) × 15% = A$60,000 × 15% = A$9,000. Marginal-rate saving = A$60,000 × (0.39 − 0.15) = A$14,400. Net saving ≈ A$5,400 (still positive but materially smaller than the headline figure suggests).

The myGov ATO online services source of truth

The ATO is the only authoritative source for your actual unused cap, total super balance and Division 293 income. To check:

1. Sign in to myGov and link the ATO online services if not already linked.
2. From the ATO menu, choose Super → Information.
3. Look for Concessional contributions for each financial year, Available carry-forward amount, and Total super balance at 30 June of each prior year.
4. Cross-check the figures against your fund's annual member statements (the fund's reporting feeds into the ATO numbers).

Treat the figures from this calculator as a planning estimate. The ATO computes the official cap, TSB and Division 293 numbers from super fund member statements (Member Account Transaction Statements / Member Account Attribute Statements) and your income tax return. Where the figures disagree, the ATO's figures govern.

Common pitfalls

• Splitting carry-forward across two contributions. The ATO consumes the oldest unused year first. A A$15,000 catch-up against unused FY2020-21 cap will use FY2020-21 first, then progress forward — but the dollar amount sits at the contribution, not the year.
• Forgetting employer SG counts. Concessional contributions include the 12% Super Guarantee for FY2025-26. A salary of A$130,000 already attracts roughly A$15,600 of SG, leaving only about A$14,400 of headroom under the A$30,000 standard cap before any salary sacrifice or carry-forward kicks in.
• Personal deductible contribution paperwork. If you make the catch-up as a personal deductible contribution, you must lodge a Notice of intent to claim a deduction (NAT 71121) with the fund and receive an acknowledgement before lodging the income tax return. Without it, the contribution is treated as non-concessional.
• Late-year timing risk. Contributions are counted in the year they are received by the fund, not the year they are sent. Allow a buffer before 30 June for processing — a contribution that lands on 1 July is in the next financial year.
• Spouse splitting and contributions splitting orders. If contributions have been split with a spouse, the originating member's cap usage is reduced by the split amount. Check the fund records carefully if this applies.
• Excess concessional contributions tax. Going above the maximum cap (annual + carry-forward) triggers excess concessional contributions tax: the excess is added back to assessable income at marginal rates, with a 15% offset for the contributions tax already paid in the fund. The calculator flags this as a warning.

Tax saving formula explained

For a planned catch-up contribution C, marginal tax rate m and contributions tax rate t (15%):

• Gross marginal-rate saving = C × (m − t).
• If Division 293 applies, additional tax = min(C, max(0, Division 293 income − A$250,000)) × 15%.
• Net saving = Gross saving − additional Division 293 tax.

The marginal-rate saving is the headline reason concessional contributions are tax-efficient: an extra A$1 inside super is taxed at 15% rather than at the marginal rate, so each A$1 contributed saves (m − 0.15). Division 293 erodes part of that saving for high income earners by lifting the effective contributions tax to 30%, but it does not remove it entirely while the marginal rate is above 30% (i.e. the 39% and 47% brackets).

Related calculators

• Division 293 tax calculator — model the extra 15% Division 293 super tax in isolation, useful for stress-testing high-income years before deciding the catch-up size.
• Salary sacrifice super calculator — work out the year-on-year tax saving from salary sacrifice, which is the more common way to use up carry-forward cap progressively.
• First Home Super Saver calculator — for first home buyers using the FHSS scheme, voluntary contributions interact with the concessional cap; check the FHSS limits as well as the carry-forward total.
• HECS-HELP repayment calculator — concessional contributions lower taxable income but not Help Repayment Income (HRI), so a catch-up contribution typically does not reduce the compulsory study loan payment.

Sources

• ATO — Concessional contributions cap
• ATO — Key superannuation rates and thresholds: contributions caps
• ATO — Division 293 tax (key thresholds)
• ATO — Total super balance
• ASIC MoneySmart — Super contributions