From 1 July 2026, the amount you can put into super at the concessional tax rate went up. The concessional (before-tax) contributions cap for 2026-27 rose to $32,500, up from $30,000 in 2025-26. If you salary sacrifice into super, top up with personal deductible contributions, or simply want to know how much room you have this year, the higher cap is worth understanding. Here is what changed, what counts towards the cap, and how it fits with the after-tax cap.
Key takeaways
- The concessional (before-tax) cap rose to $32,500 for 2026-27, up from $30,000.
- Concessional contributions include employer SG, salary sacrifice and personal deductible contributions, taxed at 15% in the fund.
- The cap applies across all your super funds combined, not per fund.
- The non-concessional (after-tax) cap rose to $130,000 for 2026-27.
- If your total super balance was under $500,000 last 30 June, you may carry forward unused cap from up to five earlier years.
The concessional cap is now $32,500
The concessional contributions cap is the ceiling on before-tax contributions that get the concessional 15% tax treatment inside your super fund. For 2026-27 it is $32,500, up from $30,000 in the two prior years. The increase comes from indexation in line with average weekly ordinary time earnings, which is why the cap moves in steps rather than every single year. It is a whole-of-year figure, and it applies to the total across all your funds. So if you contribute to more than one fund, you add those amounts together against the single $32,500 limit.
What counts towards the cap
Concessional contributions are the before-tax amounts that go into super, and three things count towards the cap. The first is the compulsory super guarantee your employer pays, which is 12% of your earnings for 2026-27. The second is any salary sacrifice you arrange with your employer. The third is personal contributions you make and then claim as a tax deduction. All three are taxed at 15% when they reach the fund, which for most workers sits well below their marginal income tax rate, and that gap is what makes concessional contributions tax-effective. Because employer SG already uses part of the cap, the room left for extra salary sacrifice is $32,500 minus your annual SG.
The after-tax cap also rose
Separate from the before-tax cap is the non-concessional (after-tax) cap, which covers contributions you make from money you have already paid tax on. For 2026-27 it rose to $130,000, up from $120,000. After-tax contributions are not taxed again when the fund receives them, because the tax was already paid before the money went in. The non-concessional cap is set at four times the concessional cap, which is why it moved up alongside the before-tax figure this year.
Carry-forward for unused cap
If you have not used your full concessional cap in recent years, you may be able to carry the unused amount forward. This applies if your total super balance was under $500,000 on 30 June of the previous year. You can then carry forward unused concessional cap amounts for up to five years, with unused amounts first counting from 2018-19. It helps people with broken work patterns, for example a period out of the workforce, make a larger concessional contribution in a later year without breaching the cap. Going over the concessional cap is not fatal: the excess is added to your taxable income and taxed at your marginal rate, with a 15% offset for the tax the fund already paid.
What it means for your contributions
For most employees the practical question is how much extra they can salary sacrifice. Start with $32,500, subtract the employer SG you expect for the year, and the remainder is your headroom for salary sacrifice or personal deductible contributions. The higher cap this year gives a little more room than last year's $30,000. To see the tax effect on your own pay, the salary sacrifice calculator models the 15% contribution tax against your marginal rate, and the guide to salary sacrifice into super walks through how the arrangement is set up. Remember that sacrificed amounts are preserved in super until you reach preservation age and retire, so the trade-off is tax saved now against access later.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
All figures verified against the named document.
- ATO, Key superannuation rates and thresholds (contributions caps) (the $32,500 concessional cap and $130,000 non-concessional cap for 2026-27, and the carry-forward rule).
Last verified 25 July 2026.
