Making Additional Personal Super Contributions (Updated 2024)

Heading into the EOFY it’s worth looking at making additional personal super contributions as a way of lowering your taxable income – and to benefit from lower tax rates on income generated in super.

Additional personal super contributions are those made over and above any amount payable under the Superannuation Guarantee – 2023 financial year is 10.5%, 2024 financial year is 11%, rising to 11% in the 2024 financial year.

There are two types of additional personal contributions you can make: Concessional Contributions (deductible) and Non-Concessional (after-tax) contributions.

What are Concessional Contributions?

• Concessional contributions come from income that hasn’t yet been taxed.
• Also called ‘before tax’ contributions.
• The amount of your concessional contribution directly lowers your taxable income.
• Taxed at a rate of 15% on entry to the super fund
• Concessional contribution cap: $27,500 (i.e. you can contribute up to $27,500 including the Super Guarantee amount into your super fund in a financial year)
• Requires the completion of a Notice of Intent to Claim form – must be completed and acknowledged by your super fund before lodging your personal tax return for the corresponding year.

What are Carry-Forward Concessional Contributions

• Available to those with total super balances less than $500K as of 30 June of the prior year
• Allows the ability to accumulate up to 5 years’ worth of unused Concessional Contributions to make additional Concessional Contributions in a particular year
• E.g. if you have not exhausted your cap in prior years you are able to carry this forward to a future year.

The following table shows how unused concessional contribution amounts can be carried forward to a future year. This is useful if you experience a large taxable income in a particular year (e.g. large capital gain from the sale of an investment) or received an inheritance and want to invest the windfall into the low tax rate environment in super.

If you have not exhausted your 2019 cap, 2023 is the last year that you can utilise this additional top-up before it is lost completely. Please note though, that in order to utilise the additional top-up, you must have first contributed up to the maximum current year cap – that is, you must have contributed $27,500 PLUS the used portion from prior years.

Carry-Forward Example

What are Non-Concessional Super Contributions?

• Contributions that come from income that has already been taxed
• Also called ‘after tax’ contributions
• Tax free on entry to the super fund
• You do not pay additional tax on these contributions until you exceed the cap (given they are coming from your post tax income)
• Non-Concessional Cap: $110,000 (i.e. you can make a maximum contribution of $110,000 to your super fund each financial year before having to pay additional tax.)

What are Non-Concessional Bring-forward Arrangements?

Under the ATO’s bring forward arrangements you may be eligible to gain access to future year non-concessional caps. This means you can make extra non-concessional contributions without having to pay extra tax.

Eligibility for bring-forward arrangements depends on your age and how much super you have in your fund/s.

Age Cut-off for Non-Concessional Bring-Forward

Total Super Balance Cut-off for Non-Concessional Bring-Forward

It’s important that you check your eligibility to make additional contributions with us prior to making the contribution to ensure you don’t exceed allowable caps.

If you need help navigating your end-of-financial-year obligations and opportunities give our team a call to find out more – or contact us to book a free consultation today!