Contribution caps 2024/25: How much can you add to your super?
23 April 2025
Superannuation is one of the best ways to save for your retirement, thanks mainly to the generous tax incentives that apply to certain types of superannuation contributions.
However, there are limits to how much you can contribute. These limits are called your contribution caps, and there are two types:
- Concessional contributions cap – your limit for before-tax contributions to super, such as employer contributions and salary sacrificing.
- Non-concessional contributions cap – your limit for after-tax contributions to super, such as personal contributions using money that has already been taxed.
If you exceed your contribution caps for the financial year, you may have to pay extra tax.
Concessional contributions cap
A concessional contributions cap of $30,000 applies to all individuals, regardless of age, for the 2024/25 financial year.
A concessional contribution is one made from before-tax money and includes the following:
- All employer contributions including Superannuation Guarantee (SG) contributions, currently at 11.5% of salary per year (2024/25) – some industry or individual arrangements may be higher.
- Money put into your super through salary sacrifice.
- Any personal contributions you claim as a tax deduction. If you intend to claim a tax deduction on these contributions, you can do so quickly and easily via Member Online.
Concessional contributions are taxed at 15% which, for most people, tends to be lower than their marginal rate. Concessional contributions you make above the $30,000 cap will be taxed at your marginal tax rate, minus a tax offset for the contributions tax already paid. So, if your marginal tax rate is higher than the normal contributions tax rate of 15%, you would need to make up the difference after you have submitted your tax return –the Australian Taxation Office will calculate the amount payable and advise you accordingly.
Carry-forward allowance
If you expect (or intend) to exceed the concessional contributions cap this financial year, it may be possible to carry forward any unused amounts of your cap from previous financial years – as long as your Total Superannuation Balance was less than $500,000 at the end of the previous financial year.
For example, let’s assume your concessional contributions in 2023/24 totalled $22,000. The contributions cap in 2023/24 was $27,500, which means you were $5,500 below the $ cap for that financial year. In the 2024/25 financial year, you can choose to carry forward that unused portion to effectively increase your contributions cap to $35,500 (i.e. $30,000 + $5,500).
The first year from which you were entitled to carry forward unused amounts was the 2018/19 financial year. Unused amounts are available for a maximum of five years, after which they will expire. You can check your unused concessional cap by logging in to your MyGov account at my.gov.au, select the Australian Taxation office, then select an option under Super > Information.
Scenarios of exceeding the cap
People can often exceed the concessional contributions cap if they:
- Earn a high income.
- Receive more than the standard Superannuation Guarantee (SG) contribution.
- Contribute additional money, such as via a salary sacrifice arrangement.
Example: Rachel’s salary sacrifice
Consider Rachel, who will earn a salary of $180,000 this financial year (2024/25).
Her employer’s super contribution is 14%, which is higher than the standard 11.5% SG contribution. She also decides to salary sacrifice an additional 5% of her pre-tax salary to super.
| Rachel's employer super contributions at 14% of $180,000 |
$25,200 |
| Rachel's salary sacrifice contribution at 5% of $180,000 |
$9,000 |
| Rachel's total contribution of $25,200+ $9,000 |
$34,200 |
In this scenario, Rachel is likely to exceed the 2024/25 concessional contributions cap of $30,000 and may choose to adjust her future contributions strategy to avoid further tax implications.
This is based on the assumption that Rachel has no carry-forward allowance from previous financial years.
Non-concessional contributions cap
Non-concessional contributions are capped at $120,000 for the 2024/25 financial year.
Non-concessional contributions are payments into your super using money that has already been taxed, including:
- Contributions made from after-tax money.
- Any spouse contributions you receive.
- Any personal contributions not claimed as a tax deduction.
Individuals with a Total Superannuation Balance of $1.9 million or more are not eligible to make non-concessional contributions.
If you exceed the non-concessional contributions cap, your excess contributions could be taxed at the maximum rate of 47%.
Bring forward rule
If you are under age 75 at any point in a financial year you may be able to ‘bring forward’ the next two years’ non-concessional contributions caps, meaning you can contribute up to $360,000 (depending on your super balance) without exceeding the cap.
Generally, this amount can be contributed as one lump sum or spread over the three years, but eligibility criteria may apply. And if you entered into a bring forward arrangement before 1 July 2021, the previous bring forward limit of $300,000 applies. Find out more in our Contribution caps information sheet.
You can check your non-concessional cap and whether you have entered a bring forward arrangement by logging in to your MyGov account at my.gov.au, select the Australian Taxation office, then select an option under Super > Information.
Claiming your tax deduction on personal contributions
You can now submit an intention to claim a tax deduction on personal (non-concessional) contributions online, which will be much quicker and easier than the printed form. This also reduces form completion errors and speeds up processing time.
To claim a tax deduction for personal contributions, log in to Member Online and click Claim tax deduction in the left-side menu. Then follow the prompts to submit your claim.
Alternatively, you can download the printed form – Notice of Intent to Claim or Vary a Deduction for Personal Super Contributions – from our website at brightersuper.com.au/forms.
You can find out more about eligibility to claim a tax deduction on personal super contributions on the Australian Taxation Office website.
Additional tax for high income earners
If you’re a high-income earner, you may be liable for an additional tax on your superannuation contributions, known as Division 293 tax.
Division 293 tax is an additional 15% tax on certain contributions and is generally payable if your combined income and concessional contributions for Division 293 purposes is more than $250,000 in the financial year.
If you are liable for this extra tax, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will calculate the amount payable when you submit your annual tax return and advise you accordingly.
You can find out more about Division 293 tax, including examples, on the ATO website.
Tips for staying under the cap
- Keep track of your contributions during the financial year, particularly if you’re contributing to more than one super fund, as we are unable to warn you before you exceed a cap.
- Know how much capacity you have under your caps if you made additional contributions to super to help you determine how much more you can contribute.
- Log in to Member Online to view your account dashboard, which shows your total contribution to your Brighter Super account for the financial year. Members with a Defined Benefit account can contact us for up-to-date totals.
- If you need to view contributions across multiple super funds, you will need to log in to your your MyGov account at my.gov.au.
- Consider other options such as contributing from after-tax money rather than salary sacrifice if you would prefer to stay under the concessional contributions cap.
We’re here to help
Further information is available in these documents:
Brighter Super’s team of superannuation specialists and financial advisers are here to help you. If you have any questions about contribution caps, please contact us on 1800 444 396.
Brighter Super Trustee (ABN 94 085 088 484 AFS Licence No. 230511) ("Trustee") as trustee for Brighter Super (ABN 23 053 121 564) ("Fund"). Brighter Super may refer to the Trustee or the Fund as the context may be. Brighter Super products are issued by the Trustee on behalf of the Fund. The information contained is up to date at the time of publishing. Some of the information may change following its release. Any questions can be referred to Brighter Super by calling 1800 444 396, or by emailing info@brightersuper.com.au.
This article may contain general advice, which has been prepared without taking into account your individual objectives, financial situation or needs. As such, you should consider the appropriateness of the advice to your objectives, financial situation and needs before acting on the advice. You should also obtain and consider the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and Financial Services Guide (FSG) before making any decision to acquire any product or contribute additional amounts to your Brighter Super account. A Target Market Determination (TMD) is a document that outlines the target market a product has been designed for. Find the PDSs, FSG and TMDs at brightersuper.com.au/pds-and-guides.
