Highlights

  • Concessional contributions include employer super guarantee, salary sacrifice and personal contributions claimed as a tax deduction.
  • unused concessional cap amounts from 2018–19 onwards can be carried forward for up to five years.
  • Carried-forward amounts are used oldest first, and anything not used within five years expires.
  • For 2026–27, the years that can be carried forward are 2021–22 through 2025–26.

A five-year carry-forward window is closing for unused concessional contributions, putting the oldest available amounts in focus.

How carry-forward contributions work

Concessional contributions include employer super guarantee, salary sacrifice and personal contributions claimed as a tax deduction. They are generally taxed at 15% in the fund and count toward an annual cap. unused concessional cap amounts from 2018–19 onwards can be carried forward for up to five years. To use them in a given year, a person's total superannuation balance (TSB) must be below $500,000 at 30 June of the previous year. Carried-forward amounts are used oldest first, and anything not used within five years expires. The ATO's own example says amounts from 2020–21 not used by the end of 2025–26 expire. Applying the same rule, 2021–22 amounts expire after 2026–27. Each year from here, another year's amount drops off. Once 2021–22 lapses on 30 June 2027, amounts from 2022–23 will be next, expiring after 30 June 2028.

The cap history behind the numbers

For 2026–27, the years that can be carried forward are 2021–22 through 2025–26. Those five years plus the current cap set the outer limit on concessional contributions this year. Adding the caps gives the maximum. Three years at $27,500 is $82,500, two years at $30,000 is $60,000, and the 2026–27 cap is $32,500. Together that is $175,000. The figure is a calculation from the ATO's published cap table rather than a separate limit the ATO sets. That maximum applies only to someone who has made no concessional contributions at all since 2021–22 and had a TSB below $500,000 at 30 June 2026. In practice, most employees will have received super guarantee in each of those years, so their available amount will be smaller. People who might have large unused amounts include those who took time out of the workforce, worked part-time, or were self-employed and did not contribute. Others may look at carry-forward in a year when they have unusually high income, such as from a capital gain. A personal deductible contribution reduces taxable income, so the strategy generally only delivers a tax benefit where there is enough taxable income to absorb the deduction. Someone returning to work part-way through a year may have plenty of unused cap but limited income to offset against it.

Hypothetical example: a $90,000 employee

Hypothetical example: an employee has earned a constant $90,000 a year in ordinary time earnings since 2021–22, with super guarantee as their only concessional contributions. The super guarantee rates were 10%, 10.5%, 11%, 11.5% and 12% across those five years. Their TSB was below $500,000 at 30 June 2026.

Their unused amounts would be

That totals $93,000. For 2026–27, super guarantee of 12% on $90,000 is $10,800, leaving $21,700 of the current cap. Adding the carried-forward $93,000 gives $114,700 of extra concessional contributions possible in 2026–27. If none of it is used by 30 June 2027, the $18,500 from 2021–22 expires. Assuming the current-year cap is absorbed first and carried-forward amounts are then applied oldest first, total concessional contributions of at least $51,000 in 2026–27 would be needed to use the full 2021–22 amount. That is $40,200 more than super guarantee alone. On the tax side, assuming a 30% marginal rate and ignoring the Medicare levy, a $20,000 deductible contribution would reduce income tax by $6,000, while the fund would pay $3,000 in contributions tax. These figures are illustrative only.