Making additional contributions to your super can be a great way to save for retirement, as long as you're aware of the superannuation contribution caps and transfer balance cap set by the government.

What are the caps on super?

The Australian government sets limits on how much you can tax-effectively add to your super each year.

Contributing too much could mean you pay extra tax.

There is also a transfer balance cap, which limits how much super you can move into one of our retirement accounts.

What are the types of super contributions?

There are two types of super contributions:

  1. Concessional (before-tax)
  2. Non-concessional (after-tax)

Once you turn 67, you'll need to meet the work test or work test exemption for any contributions other than your employer's Superannuation Guarantee (SG) contributions.

Concessional contributions (before-tax)

Concessional contributions come out of your pay before income tax, so you only pay the 'concessional' rate of 15% tax when it goes into your super. (Or 30% if your income plus super contributions is more than $250,000 per year.)

What can be a concessional contribution?

Non-concessional contributions (after-tax)

Non-concessional contributions come out of your or your spouse's take-home pay after you've paid income tax.

What can be a non-concessional contribution?

What are the 2021-22 concessional and non-concessional contribution caps?

This table shows how much you can contribute per financial year from 1 July 2021.

The carry-forward and bring-forward rules are explained in more detail below.

Contribution type Cap from 1 July 2021 Total tax rate paid
Concessional (before-tax) contributions $27,500 per year

plus carry-forward amounts since 1 July 2018 (previous cap was $25,000)		 15% contributions tax

or 30% contributions tax if your income plus contributions is more than $250,000 per year
Non-concessional (after-tax) personal/voluntary contributions $110,000 per year (previous cap was $100,000)

or if under 67, you can also use up to 3 years of cap ($330,000 - previously up to $300,000) under bring-forward rules, if your total super balance was less than $1.48m last financial year

or $0 (no contributions allowed) if your total super balance was $1.7m or more last financial year		 No contributions tax - but you do pay your normal income tax, which can be up to 47%
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How to track your super contributions and balance

You can track contributions to your QSuper account anytime in our mobile app or in Member Online.

And you can use the ATO's online services to monitor your contributions at other super funds, check your total super balance, and more. Log in through myGov.

What is the carry-forward rule?

If your total super balance is less than $500,000 at 30 June, you can ‘carry forward’ any concessional contributions over a rolling 5-year period.

This means if you don’t use the full amount of your concessional contribution cap ($27,500 in 2021-22), you can carry forward the unused portion and take advantage of it up to 5 years later. Carry forward amounts expire after 5 years if you haven't used them.

For example, if you receive $10,000 in before-tax contributions in 2021-22, the $17,500 unused portion of your cap is effectively rolled over and added to your concessional cap for 2022-23, so you would be able to receive up to $45,000 in before-tax contributions in that financial year.

Until 1 July 2021, the cap was $25,000. The carry-forward rule was introduced on 1 July 2018, so you can only carry forward your cap since then.

What is the bring-forward rule?

If you’re under age 67, you can bring forward up to 3 times your non-concessional (after-tax) contribution cap – so up to $330,000.

However, once you turn 67, you will need to meet the work test or work test exemption to make your own contributions to your super. Your employer will still be able to make SG contributions to your super.

If your total super balance is more than $1.48 million, refer to the FAQs below for your cap.

FAQs about super caps Show all Hide all

What happens if you go over the contribution caps depends on whether your contributions are before-tax or after-tax.

If you go over the concessional (before-tax) contribution cap

Any contributions you make over your before-tax limit are taxed at your marginal tax rate, with a 15% tax offset.

After you lodge your tax return, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will let you know you've exceeded the cap, and explain your options:

  • Withdraw the extra: You can withdraw up to 85% of your excess contributions from your account. That amount is added to your assessable income and taxed at your marginal tax rate. You're entitled to a 15% tax offset for the contributions tax you've already paid.
  • Leave the extra: If you leave excess concessional contributions in your super, they are added to your assessable income and taxed at your marginal tax rate, and they count towards your non-concessional contributions. You're entitled to a 15% tax offset for the contributions tax you've already paid.

If you decide to leave the excess funds in your super account, you can elect to pay the additional tax yourself or you can send the ATO a release authority and they'll tell us to pay the excess from your account on your behalf. Any amounts we release for tax no longer count towards your non-concessional contribution cap.

If you go over the non-concessional (after-tax) contribution cap

If you go over your after-tax contributions limit, the ATO will send you details after you lodge your tax return, and explain your options:

  • Withdraw the extra: You can withdraw all excess after-tax contributions and up to 85% of the associated earnings calculated by the ATO.
    If you do this, you won't be taxed on the contributions, but the ATO-calculated earnings are included in your income tax assessment. You're entitled to a 15% tax offset on the ATO-calculated earnings.
  • Leave the extra: If you choose to leave the excess contributions in your account, you will be taxed at the highest marginal tax rate of 47%.
    If you decide to leave the excess in your super, the ATO will send a release authority to us, instructing us to pay the additional tax from your account on your behalf.
  • Keep an eye on your contributions throughout the year (in our mobile app or in Member Online), including any you make to other superannuation funds (through ATO online services in myGov).
  • If you're about to go over your concessional (before-tax) contribution cap, you could make voluntary/non-concessional (after-tax) contributions instead.
  • If your employer's contributions would put you over the concessional contribution cap, you can ask your payroll office about decreasing your salary for superannuation purposes.
  • If you work for the Queensland Government, you could reduce your standard concessional contributions or switch your standard contributions to after-tax contributions.

If your total super balance is more than $1.48 million, you may not be able to access the full bring-forward rule:

Total superannuation balance Contribution and 'bring forward' available
Less than $1.48 million Access to full $330,000 cap over 3 years
$1.48 million to less than $1.59 million Access to $220,000 over 2 years
$1.59 million to less than $1.7 million Access to $110,000 cap (no bring forward, general non-concessional contributions cap applies)
$1.7 million or more Can't use bring-forward rule

For these purposes, your total superannuation balance is determined on 30 June of the previous financial year.

There is a limit on the total amount of superannuation you can transfer to a retirement income stream without paying additional tax. This is known as the transfer balance cap.

For the 2021-22 financial year, the general transfer balance cap is set at $1.7 million.

However, your transfer balance cap depends on your circumstances, so each person will have a transfer balance cap between $1.6 and $1.7 million. To check the balance of your personal cap, you can check your ATO online account using myGov.

All of your account balances combined across any income streams or pension accounts count towards this limit - either at QSuper or other super funds (not including Transition to Retirement Income accounts). For our Lifetime Pension, your initial purchase price counts towards the transfer balance cap.

Visit the Australian Taxation Office for more information.

If you’re a Defined Benefit account member, we use a formula to calculate your concessional contributions as notional taxed contributions.

Refer to the Defined Benefit Guide (pdf) for more information.

If you withdrew some of your super early because of the financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, you can choose to recontribute that amount back into your super as a personal contribution. It is not included in your contribution caps and you can't claim the contribution as a tax deduction.

Since this is a new rule introduced from 1 July 2021, the government and the industry are still developing the recontribution process. For more information, please see the ATO's More Flexible Superannuation page.


There are some exclusions to the contribution caps, such as the government co-contribution. Read our Personal Contributions Guide (pdf) for details.


Make a contribution

Learn how to make concessional and non-concessional contributions and decide which option is right for you.

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Claim a tax deduction

Complete the form in Member Online to claim a tax deduction for your personal contributions (non-concessional, after-tax contributions).

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Get advice

You can get personal financial advice over the phone about how to contribute to your super and how much to put in.

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