Every financial year that passes without maximising your concessional contributions is a missed opportunity that cannot be recovered in full. For pre-retirees in particular, the final five to ten years before retirement represent the period where disciplined contribution strategies have the greatest compounding impact on your eventual retirement balance.
With 30 June approaching, now is the time to take stock. Whether you are salary sacrificing, making personal deductible contributions, or relying solely on employer superannuation guarantee (SG) payments, there are steps you can take right now to ensure you are not leaving money on the table.
Understanding the Concessional Contributions Cap
Concessional contributions are contributions made into your superannuation fund from pre-tax income. They include employer SG contributions, salary sacrifice contributions, and personal contributions for which you claim a tax deduction. These contributions are taxed at 15% within the fund — significantly lower than most individuals' marginal tax rates.
For the 2025-26 financial year, the concessional contributions cap is $30,000 per person. This cap applies regardless of your age, employment status, or the number of super funds you hold. It is a combined cap — meaning your employer contributions, salary sacrifice, and personal deductible contributions all count toward the same $30,000 limit.
Key Point
The $30,000 concessional cap includes all sources: employer SG, salary sacrifice, and personal deductible contributions. Exceeding the cap triggers additional tax at your marginal rate plus an excess concessional contributions charge. Always check your year-to-date position before making additional contributions.
Step 1: Know Your Year-to-Date Position
Before making any additional contributions, you need to know exactly where you stand. Log in to your superannuation fund's online portal or contact them directly to obtain your year-to-date concessional contributions figure. Be aware that employer contributions can take several weeks to appear, so factor in any pending SG payments.
For example, if you earn $130,000 and your employer contributes 11.5% in SG, that is approximately $14,950 in employer contributions for the full year. This means you have roughly $15,050 of unused cap space to fill through salary sacrifice or personal deductible contributions.
Common pitfalls when calculating your position
- Bonus payments: If you receive a bonus before 30 June, your employer will pay SG on that amount, which reduces your remaining cap space
- Multiple employers: If you work two jobs, both employers contribute SG, and the combined amount counts toward your single $30,000 cap
- Timing of contributions: Contributions are counted in the financial year they are received by the fund, not when they are deducted from your pay. Contributions made in late June may not be received until July
Step 2: Leverage the Carry-Forward Unused Cap
One of the most valuable provisions for pre-retirees is the carry-forward (or "catch-up") concessional contributions rule. If your total superannuation balance was less than $500,000 on 30 June of the previous financial year, you can carry forward any unused concessional cap amounts from the previous five financial years.
This provision has been available since 1 July 2018, which means you can now access unused cap amounts from up to five prior years. For someone who has consistently under-contributed, this can represent a substantial opportunity.
"I regularly see clients who have been salary sacrificing $5,000 per year when they could have been contributing $30,000. The carry-forward rules give us a window to make up some of that lost ground — but only if you act before the oldest unused amounts drop off."
Carry-Forward Example
If your total super balance is $420,000 and you have $40,000 in unused concessional cap from previous years, you could potentially contribute up to $70,000 in concessional contributions this financial year ($30,000 current year cap plus $40,000 carry-forward). At a marginal tax rate of 37%, the tax saving on $70,000 of concessional contributions versus taking that income as salary is approximately $15,400.
How to check your carry-forward amounts
The most reliable source for your carry-forward unused cap amounts is your myGov account, linked to the ATO. Navigate to the superannuation section and look for "Carry-forward concessional contributions." This will show your available unused cap amounts by financial year. Your super fund does not track this for you — only the ATO holds the consolidated data across all your funds.
Step 3: Choose Your Contribution Method
There are two primary ways to make additional concessional contributions beyond your employer SG:
Salary sacrifice
Salary sacrifice involves arranging with your employer to redirect a portion of your pre-tax salary directly into your super fund. The advantage is simplicity — the contributions are made automatically from each pay cycle, and the tax benefit is immediate because the sacrificed amount never appears as assessable income on your tax return.
The limitation is timing. If you are reading this in February or March and have not set up salary sacrifice for this financial year, you have limited pay cycles remaining to make up the shortfall. You would need to salary sacrifice a larger amount from each remaining pay to fully utilise your cap.
Personal deductible contributions
Since 1 July 2017, any individual under 75 can make a personal contribution to super and claim a tax deduction — regardless of their employment status. This is the more flexible option for end-of-year planning because you can make a single lump sum contribution directly to your fund.
To claim the deduction, you must lodge a Notice of Intent to Claim a Deduction (Section 290-170) with your super fund, and receive an acknowledgement from the fund, before you lodge your tax return or start a pension from that account. This step is critical — if you miss it, the contribution will be treated as non-concessional (after-tax) and you will not receive the tax deduction.
Critical Deadline
If you are making a personal deductible contribution, ensure the funds are received by your super fund before 30 June. Allow at least 5-7 business days for electronic transfers to be processed and allocated. Contributions received after 30 June will count toward the following year's cap.
Step 4: Consider the Interaction with Other Strategies
Concessional contributions do not operate in a vacuum. Before maximising your cap, consider the following interactions:
- Division 293 tax: If your income plus concessional contributions exceed $250,000, you will pay an additional 15% tax on the contributions that push you over the threshold. The effective tax rate on those contributions becomes 30% — still below the top marginal rate, but the benefit is reduced
- Transfer balance cap: If your total super balance is approaching $1.9 million, additional concessional contributions will grow your accumulation balance but cannot be transferred into the tax-free pension phase beyond the cap
- Government co-contribution: If your income is below $60,400, making concessional contributions (which reduce your assessable income) could inadvertently affect your eligibility for the government co-contribution on non-concessional contributions
- Spouse contribution tax offset: Salary sacrificing to reduce your assessable income below $37,000 may make your spouse eligible for the spouse contribution tax offset
Step 5: Document and Diarise
Good intentions mean nothing without execution. Here is a practical checklist for the weeks ahead:
- This week: Log in to myGov and check your carry-forward unused cap balance
- This week: Contact your super fund to confirm year-to-date concessional contributions received
- Calculate: Determine the gap between contributions received and your total available cap (current year plus carry-forward)
- Decide: Choose between salary sacrifice (if enough pay cycles remain) or personal deductible contribution (lump sum)
- Act by mid-June: Make the contribution or confirm salary sacrifice arrangements, allowing processing time before 30 June
- After contributing: If making a personal contribution, lodge your Section 290-170 Notice of Intent before lodging your tax return
The Bottom Line
Maximising concessional contributions is one of the simplest and most effective wealth-building strategies available to Australians. The tax benefit is immediate and quantifiable. For someone on a marginal rate of 37%, every $10,000 of concessional contributions saves $2,200 in tax compared to taking that amount as salary. Over a decade of consistent maximisation, the compounding effect within the super environment is substantial.
The carry-forward rules have made this even more accessible. If you have been under-contributing in recent years, this financial year may represent your best opportunity to make up lost ground. But the window is closing — unused cap amounts from 2020-21 will drop off after 30 June 2026.
If you are unsure of your position, or want to model the impact of maximising contributions on your retirement outcome, I would encourage you to reach out. This is one of those areas where a small amount of planning time delivers an outsized financial result.
General Advice Disclaimer
This article contains general information only and does not take into account your personal financial situation, objectives, or needs. Before acting on any information, you should consider its appropriateness having regard to your own circumstances and seek professional financial advice. Wealth Designers Advisory Pty Ltd (ABN 65 652 475 886, AFSL 562647).