Catch-up contributions: how to use your unused super cap

If your super balance is under $500,000, you may be able to put far more into super this year than the standard cap allows. Catch-up contributions (the ATO calls them carry-forward concessional contributions) let you use concessional cap you didn’t use in earlier years. For a high earner with a bonus year, a big RSU vest or a capital gain to manage, that can mean a much larger tax deduction in a single year.

This guide covers who is eligible, how much you can contribute, the tax rules and the mistakes I see most often.

How catch-up contributions work

Every year you have a concessional contributions cap. Concessional contributions come from pre-tax money: your employer’s super guarantee, salary sacrifice, and personal contributions you claim a tax deduction for. Inside super they are generally taxed at 15%, rather than at your marginal rate of up to 47%.

If your concessional contributions in a year come in under the cap, the unused amount can be carried forward and used in a later year, as long as you meet the balance test in the year you use it. Unused amounts have been counted since 2018–19, and each year’s amount is available for five years before it expires.

The ATO uses your oldest unused amounts first, and applies them automatically once your contributions go over the general cap for the year.

Concessional cap by year

Financial year	Concessional cap
2018–19 to 2020–21	$25,000
2021–22 to 2023–24	$27,500
2024–25 and 2025–26	$30,000
2026–27	$32,500

Source: ATO, concessional contributions cap.

Who is eligible

You can make catch-up contributions in a financial year if both of these apply:

• Your total super balance was under $500,000 at 30 June of the previous financial year. This counts all your super accounts, including any SMSF.
• You have unused concessional cap from one or more of the previous five financial years.

Since 1 July 2022 there is no work test for salary sacrifice or for making personal contributions between 67 and 74. If you are 67 to 74 and want to claim a tax deduction for a personal contribution, you still need to meet the work test (40 hours of work within 30 consecutive days in the year) or qualify for the one-off exemption. See the ATO’s personal super contributions rules.

Catch-up contributions tend to suit people whose contributions were lower in past years: career breaks, parental leave, part-time work, or years when the employer’s super guarantee was the only thing going in.

When catch-up contributions are worth using

The deduction is most valuable in a year when your taxable income is unusually high. Common examples:

• A large bonus or commission year
• Selling a block of vested shares or RSUs at a capital gain
• Selling an investment property
• A redundancy or other taxable lump sum
• An inheritance you want to add to super

In those years, a personal deductible contribution using your carried-forward cap may reduce tax at your marginal rate, while the money goes into super taxed at 15%.

How to work out how much you can contribute

1. Check your total super balance. It must have been under $500,000 at 30 June last year.
2. Find your unused amounts. Your carry-forward balance is shown in ATO online services through myGov. In 2026–27, you can use unused amounts from 2021–22 to 2025–26.
3. Add the current year’s cap. Your maximum for 2026–27 is $32,500 plus your available unused amounts.
4. Subtract what’s already going in. Take off your employer contributions and any salary sacrifice for the year. What’s left is how much you can add as a personal deductible contribution.
5. Lodge a notice of intent. Before you claim the deduction, give your fund a notice of intent to claim and wait for its acknowledgment.

Tax rules to know

Contributions tax and Division 293

Concessional contributions are generally taxed at 15% in your fund. If your income plus concessional contributions is over $250,000, Division 293 tax adds another 15% on your concessional contributions, or on the amount over $250,000 if that is less. It depends on your income, not on whether you go over the cap, and carried-forward contributions count toward it. See the ATO’s Division 293 rules.

Even at an effective 30%, that is still below the 47% a high earner would pay on the same income outside super.

If you go over your cap

Concessional contributions above your available cap are added to your assessable income and taxed at your marginal rate, less a 15% tax offset. You can elect to release up to 85% of the excess from your fund to help pay the tax. Any excess you don’t release counts toward your non-concessional cap.

Non-concessional contributions

Once your concessional cap is used, you may be able to add after-tax (non-concessional) contributions. The cap is $130,000 for 2026–27. These aren’t tax-deductible, and once inside super their earnings are taxed in the same way as the rest of your balance.

Common mistakes

• Not checking your total super balance. If it was $500,000 or more at the previous 30 June, you can’t use carried-forward amounts that year.
• Forgetting employer contributions. They count toward the cap, so work out what’s left before you contribute.
• Missing the notice of intent. Without a valid notice acknowledged by your fund, you can’t claim the deduction.
• Letting amounts expire. Unused amounts last five years. In 2026–27, anything left from 2021–22 is used or lost.
• Treating it in isolation. Super is generally preserved until you retire after your preservation age of 60. Make sure you won’t need the money sooner.

Case study: catching up after parental leave

Penny’s example shows how unused amounts build up. It is illustrative, uses the caps that applied in those years, and assumes her total super balance stayed under $500,000.

In 2018–19 and 2019–20, Penny made concessional contributions of $15,000 a year, $10,000 less than the $25,000 cap. She took 12 months of parental leave from 1 July 2020 and made no concessional contributions in 2020–21.

From 1 July 2021, Penny returned to full-time work, and her employer contributions totalled $15,000 a year in 2021–22, 2022–23 and 2023–24. That was $12,500 less than the $27,500 cap in each of those years.

In 2023–24 Penny received a $50,000 inheritance and wanted to contribute it to super. The table shows how her unused amounts let her do that as a concessional contribution.

Financial year	Annual cap	Total cap including carried-forward amounts	Concessional contributions made	Unused amount carried forward
2018–19	$25,000	$25,000	$15,000	$10,000
2019–20	$25,000	$35,000	$15,000	$20,000
2020–21	$25,000	$45,000	$0	$45,000
2021–22	$27,500	$72,500	$15,000	$57,500
2022–23	$27,500	$85,000	$15,000	$70,000
2023–24	$27,500	$97,500	$65,000	$32,500

In 2023–24, her $15,000 of employer contributions plus her $50,000 personal deductible contribution came to $65,000, well within her $97,500 available cap. She still had $32,500 to carry forward to later years.

Take control of your super

Catch-up contributions are one of the few ways to get a large deduction in a high-income year, but the balance test, the five-year window and the notice of intent all need to line up. My superannuation advice service covers this as part of a full review, or book a call below.

This information is general in nature and doesn’t take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on it, consider whether it’s appropriate for you and speak with a financial adviser.