If your total super balance was under 500,000 AUD at 30 June 2026, you may be able to make concessional (before-tax) contributions above the 32,500 AUD general cap in 2026–27 by using cap amounts you left unused in the previous five financial years. To check, you need your total super balance at 30 June 2026 and the concessional contributions counted in each year from 2021–22 to 2025–26.
The main limit: this page estimates cap room from figures you enter. The amount the ATO actually applies is the one shown in ATO online services, and contributions count in the year your fund receives them, not the year you meant to pay them.
Carry-forward concessional cap checker for 2026-27
Enter your total super balance at 30 June 2026 and the concessional contributions counted in each of the last five financial years to estimate your 2026-27 cap, the room left after contributions already planned, and the 2021-22 amount that expires after 30 June 2027.
Uses the ATO general caps: 27,500 AUD for 2021-22 to 2023-24, 30,000 AUD for 2024-25 and 2025-26, and 32,500 AUD for 2026-27. Carry-forward needs a total super balance below 500,000 AUD at 30 June 2026. Your figure in ATO online services is the one that counts.
This tool runs in your browser. Your entries are not sent or saved. All amounts are in Australian dollars (AUD).
Load example fills hypothetical figures. They are not current rates or recommendations.
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What does carry forward actually let you do?
Each financial year has a general concessional contributions cap. The ATO lists it as 27,500 AUD for 2021–22 to 2023–24, 30,000 AUD for 2024–25 and 2025–26, and 32,500 AUD from 1 July 2026. Concessional contributions include compulsory employer super, salary sacrifice and personal contributions you claim as a tax deduction.
If you contributed less than the cap in a year, the gap is an unused cap amount. Under the carry-forward rules you can add unused amounts from up to five previous years to the current year’s cap, but only if your total super balance was below 500,000 AUD at 30 June of the previous financial year. For 2026–27, that test date is 30 June 2026.
You do not apply for this. The ATO says unused amounts are applied automatically once you go over the general cap, and the oldest available amounts are used first. Years when you were not a member of a super fund still count.
Which unused amounts expire and when?
Unused amounts last for five years and then expire. The ATO’s own example is a 2020–21 amount that expires if it is not used by the end of 2025–26. Applying the same rule, any 2020–21 amount you still had is already gone, and the 2021–22 amount is the next one at risk.
| Year the amount was unused | General cap that year | Last year it can be used | Expires |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021–22 | 27,500 AUD | 2026–27 | After 30 June 2027 |
| 2022–23 | 27,500 AUD | 2027–28 | After 30 June 2028 |
| 2023–24 | 27,500 AUD | 2028–29 | After 30 June 2029 |
| 2024–25 | 30,000 AUD | 2029–30 | After 30 June 2030 |
| 2025–26 | 30,000 AUD | 2030–31 | After 30 June 2031 |
This matters for timing. If you only have spare cash for one larger contribution in the next few years, 2026–27 is the last year the 2021–22 amount can absorb part of it. Later amounts give you more years, provided your balance stays under 500,000 AUD at each previous 30 June.
How do you work out your own 2026–27 cap?
Use this order: check the balance test, list each year’s contributions, subtract each from that year’s cap, add the gaps, then add the 32,500 AUD general cap. Finally, take off the concessional contributions already coming in 2026–27, such as employer super and any salary sacrifice you have set up.
Hypothetical example: Mia’s total super balance at 30 June 2026 is 180,000 AUD. Her concessional contributions counted were 9,000 AUD in 2021–22, 10,500 AUD in 2022–23, 12,000 AUD in 2023–24, 14,000 AUD in 2024–25 and 15,500 AUD in 2025–26. Her employer is expected to contribute 16,000 AUD in 2026–27.
| Year | Cap minus contributions | Unused amount |
|---|---|---|
| 2021–22 | 27,500 − 9,000 | 18,500 |
| 2022–23 | 27,500 − 10,500 | 17,000 |
| 2023–24 | 27,500 − 12,000 | 15,500 |
| 2024–25 | 30,000 − 14,000 | 16,000 |
| 2025–26 | 30,000 − 15,500 | 14,500 |
| Total | Sum of the five years | 81,500 |
Result: her estimated 2026–27 cap is 32,500 + 81,500 = 114,000 AUD. After the 16,000 AUD from her employer, the room left is 114,000 − 16,000 = 98,000 AUD. To use the whole 2021–22 amount before it expires, total 2026–27 contributions need to reach 32,500 + 18,500 = 51,000 AUD, so she would need 51,000 − 16,000 = 35,000 AUD of extra concessional contributions.
What to check: compare each yearly figure with the carry-forward screen in ATO online services (Super, Information, Carry forward concessional contributions). If any past year was over its general cap, part of the older unused amounts may already have been used, and the remaining figures can be lower than a simple subtraction suggests.
What is the tax effect of a catch-up contribution?
A concessional contribution is generally taxed at 15% in the fund. If you make a personal contribution and claim it as a deduction, it lowers your taxable income, so the saving depends on your marginal rate. The ATO’s 2026–27 resident rates are 15% from 18,201 AUD to 45,000 AUD, 30% to 135,000 AUD, 37% to 190,000 AUD and 45% above that, plus the 2% Medicare levy.
Hypothetical example, continued: Mia’s taxable income would be 95,000 AUD before the contribution. She makes a 35,000 AUD personal contribution and claims it, so taxable income falls to 60,000 AUD, still inside the 30% bracket.
- Income tax before: 4,020 + 30% × (95,000 − 45,000) = 19,020 AUD.
- Income tax after: 4,020 + 30% × (60,000 − 45,000) = 8,520 AUD, a drop of 10,500 AUD.
- Medicare levy at 2% falls from 1,900 AUD to 1,200 AUD, a drop of 700 AUD.
- Contributions tax in the fund: 15% × 35,000 = 5,250 AUD.
- Estimated net tax saving: 10,500 + 700 − 5,250 = 5,950 AUD, and 35,000 − 5,250 = 29,750 AUD stays in super.
Check the floor. In 2026–27 the 15% rate above 18,200 AUD equals the 15% contributions tax, so contributing enough to push taxable income below 45,000 AUD saves little beyond the Medicare levy, where you pay it. Above 45,000 AUD the gap is 15 cents per dollar before the levy, which is why it can make sense to stop the contribution at that line or spread it over two years.
How do you make the contribution count in the right year?
There are two common routes. Salary sacrifice reduces the pay you are taxed on as you go, but your employer has to offer it and send it to the fund in time. A personal contribution can be made as a lump sum, and you then claim a deduction for it in your tax return.
For the deduction, the ATO requires you to give your fund a notice of intent to claim in the approved form and receive the fund’s acknowledgment. Contributions you cannot claim include employer contributions and salary sacrifice, because they are already before-tax money. The deducted amount counts towards your concessional cap.
The ATO also says contributions count towards a cap in the year your super fund receives them. A payment sent in the last days of June can land in July and fall into the next year, where the 2021–22 amount is no longer available. Leave a margin for bank transfers and fund processing, and check your fund’s own cut-off date.
When does this not fit?
- Your total super balance was 500,000 AUD or more at 30 June 2026. Only the 32,500 AUD general cap applies in 2026–27, even if your history shows large unused amounts. Extra contributions above it are excess contributions.
- You may need the money before you can access super. Money in super is meant for retirement, so check with your fund when you could access it. A tax saving does not help if you then borrow at a high rate to cover a shortfall.
- Your income plus concessional contributions is above 250,000 AUD. Division 293 tax adds 15% on the lesser of the excess over the threshold or your taxable contributions, which reduces the benefit.
- You are in a defined benefit, untaxed or constitutionally protected fund. Contribution and deduction rules differ for these funds, so the simple subtraction in this page may not match your position.
- You are 67 to 74. The ATO says you need to meet the work test or an exemption to claim a deduction for personal contributions.
- A past year went over its cap. The checker treats the excess conservatively, but your ATO figure is the one to use.
What happens if you overshoot?
If contributions go over your cap, including carried-forward amounts, the excess concessional contributions are added to your assessable income and taxed at your marginal rate, less a 15% tax offset for the contributions tax already paid. You can elect to release up to 85% of the excess from your fund to help pay the tax, and any excess left in super counts towards the non-concessional cap.
Because employer amounts, fees or insurance premiums your employer pays to your fund on your behalf, and contributions from any second job all count, add up every source before you decide on a lump sum. If you are close to the 500,000 AUD balance line, the result can also change from one year to the next.
If you are deciding between extra super and other uses for the same cash, compare it with options such as paying HECS early or holding it in an offset account, which keep the money more accessible.
Quick decision checklist
- Confirm your total super balance at 30 June 2026 was below 500,000 AUD.
- Read the carry-forward figure in ATO online services and compare it with your own year-by-year totals.
- Add up employer super, salary sacrifice and planned personal contributions for 2026–27.
- Decide whether to use the 2021–22 amount before it expires after 30 June 2027, and stop before taxable income drops below 45,000 AUD if the extra saving is small.
- Lodge a notice of intent and get the acknowledgment before you claim a deduction, and pay early enough for the fund to receive it in the right year.
Sources, scope and editorial note
- ATO: Concessional contributions cap. Used for: cap amounts by year, the 500,000 AUD balance test, five-year expiry, oldest-first use, receipt-year timing and excess contribution treatment.
- ATO: Tax rates for Australian residents. Used for: 2026–27 resident tax brackets and the 2% Medicare levy note.
- ATO: Personal super contributions. Used for: notice of intent and acknowledgment, contributions that cannot be claimed, and the work test for ages 67 to 74.
- ATO: Division 293 tax. Used for: the 250,000 AUD threshold and the 15% rate.
Sources checked 2 October 2026. All examples are hypothetical and use AUD. This guide was prepared with AI assistance and source checking; it has not received professional financial or legal review. It is general information, not personal tax or super advice. Check your own figures in ATO online services and with your fund before contributing.
