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Super contributions - too much super can mean extra tax

Caps apply to contributions made to your super fund for a financial year. Any super contributed over the cap amount is subject to extra tax. The cap amount and how much extra tax you pay once you exceed it, depends upon whether the contributions are:

  • concessional - which are generally made to a super fund for or by you in a financial year and are included in the assessable income of the super fund (for example super guarantee, salary sacrificed amounts and any amount you are allowed as a personal super deduction in your income tax return).
  • non-concessional - which are generally made to a super fund by or for you in a financial year and are not included in the super fund's assessable income (for example, personal contributions you make from your after-tax income).

Summary of contributions Caps

  Concessional cap * Transitional
concessional cap**		 Non-concessional cap
2009-10 financial year $25,000 $50,000 $150,000
2008-09 and 2007-08 financial year $50,000 $100,000 $150,000
Tax on amounts over
the cap		 31.5% (in addition to the 15% paid by the super fund) 31.5% (in addition to the 15% paid by the super fund) 46.5%
Other information Any concessional contributions in excess of the cap will also count towards the non-concessional contributions cap Any concessional contributions in excess of the cap will also count towards the non-concessional contributions cap If you are under age 65 at any time during the financial year the contribution is made, you can bring forward two years of contributions, effectively allowing you to contribute up to three times the cap at once, or at any time during the three financial years.


*The $25,000 concessional cap will be indexed annually from 2010-11 onwards to average weekly ordinary time earnings (AWOTE) and rounded down to the nearest multiple of $5,000.

**The transitional concessional contributions cap is for those aged 50 years or older and is available until 30 June 2012.