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Salary sacrifice

If you earn over $37,000 you could benefit by salary sacrificing your super.

Salary sacrificing allows you to make super contributions before income tax is paid.

Typically, contributions you make to your super are made after you've paid income tax, which can be up to 45%1 of your salary. Salary sacrificing allows you to make contributions before income tax is paid – which may save you from paying high rates of tax and enable you to grow your super.

The higher your income, the more tax you may save

Whether salary sacrifice is right for you depends largely on your tax rate. Any income you earn could be taxed at up to 45%1, but income you salary sacrifice into your super is only taxed at 15%.

Most Queensland Government employees must contribute 2–5% of their salary into their super so, depending on your income, the tax savings from salary sacrificing can be significant. To maintain the same take-home pay and boost your super, you can contribute the income tax savings made into your QSuper account, bringing you closer to your desired retirement lifestyle.

If you are a non-Queensland Government employee, you will need to contact your employer directly for more information about salary sacrifice.

Taxable income
(2011/2012 financial year)		 Marginal tax rate
(above lower threshold)1		 Super contributions
tax rate
$37,001 – $80,000 30% 15%
$80,001 – $180,000 37% 15%
$180,001+ 45% 15%

How much could I save?
See how much you could save by using our Salary sacrifice calculator.

Note
If your total income is under $61,9202, you may be eligible for the super co-contribution, which could be worth up to $1,000. Salary sacrificed contributions don’t qualify for the super co-contribution – so, if you are eligible and want to receive the super co-contribution, you may need to make an after-tax voluntary contribution. Find out more about the super co-contribution.

 

Frequently asked questions

Show all answers

Are there limits on how much I can salary sacrifice?

There are limits on how much super you can salary sacrifice while receiving the concessional tax rate of 15%.

If you exceed the concessional contributions cap in any given year, your excess contributions will be taxed at a rate of 31.5%. This is in addition to the 15% superannuation contribution tax, so the total would be 46.5%. The excess contributions will also count towards the non-concessional cap.

Age Annual concessional contributions cap
Under 50 $25,000
50 and over $50,0003

Find out more about the contribution caps.


  1. Plus applicable levies.
  2. Including reportable fringe benefits, and reportable employer superannuation contributions.
  3. Limit applies until 30 June 2012.
  4. Q Invest advisers specialise in helping people employed in the Queensland public sector and can help you with your salary sacrifice needs. Q Invest (ABN 35 063 511 580, AFSL 238274) is wholly owned by the QSuper Board. The QSuper Board does not accept responsibility for the financial advice or services provided by Q Invest, which is a separate legal entity.
  5. RemServ charges a fee to administer the salary sacrifice service. RemServ is the salary packaging administrator for most Queensland Government employees. Some major employers, such as Queensland Rail, have decided to handle their own salary sacrifice arrangements. If you are in doubt, check with your pay office.
  6. If you are a non-Queensland Government employee, you will need to contact your employer directly for more information about salary sacrifice.

Start salary sacrificing

  1. Use our Salary Sacrifice calculator to find how much you could save, or contact Q Invest4 for personalised financial advice.
  2. Contact Remserv5 or your pay office6 to start salary sacrificing.

Find out more

See how much you'll save
Salary sacrifice calculator

Download and read our
Personal contributions guide (pdf)

Attend a
QSuper seminar

For personal financial advice
Contact Q Invest