After-tax, or non-concessional, contributions are a great way to boost your super savings.
You can make a one-off payment or regular payments throughout the year. And they’re not taxed when they go into your super — that’s because you’ve already paid income tax on this money.
If you’re under the age of 75, you can generally make a personal after-tax contribution to your super at any time, even if you’re not working when you make your contribution.
Once you reach age 75, you can’t make a personal after-tax contribution.
Please note that we must have a record of your tax file number (TFN) in order to be able to accept personal after-tax contributions to your account.
We must have your TFN in order to accept personal after-tax contributions to your account.
You can make up to $120,000 of after-tax contributions into your super per year, or up to $360,000 under the government’s ‘bring forward’ rule, but only once in a three-year period.
The amount you can bring forward decreases once your total super balance has reached $1.66 million. If your total super balance is more than $1.9 million, you can’t make any after-tax contributions.*
Find out more about the contribution cap and bring forward rules in our guide, How super works.
*All figures apply to the 2024-25 financial year.
Making a personal after-tax contribution may also allow you to take advantage of the government’s super co-contribution payment (if you qualify).
There are three easy ways to pay a personal (after-tax) contribution:
If you make personal after-tax contributions, you may also be able to claim a tax deduction for your contribution. This can be particularly beneficial if you’re self-employed or unable to salary sacrifice with your employer.
Claiming after-tax contributions as a tax deduction reduces your taxable income whilst increasing your savings for retirement. It can be particularly beneficial because the contribution amount is taxed at 15% in the super fund instead of your marginal rate of tax which can be a lot higher.
Just note that if you do claim a tax deduction for a personal after-tax contribution, this contribution amount will no longer count towards receiving the super co-contribution. Contribution caps also apply when claiming contributions as an income tax deduction.
For more information on personal after-tax contributions, including claiming them as a tax deduction, visit the ATO website.
If you make an after-tax contribution and want to claim it as a tax deduction, you’ll need to let us know by filling in the Deduction for personal super contributions form and returning it to us via mail.
You must send it back to us no later than one of the following options (whichever occurs first):
Once the form has been submitted, we’ll issue you a letter for tax purposes.
We always recommend you get professional advice before making a decision on how much to contribute or claim.
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If you don’t let us know you intend to claim a tax deduction, your contribution will remain as an after-tax contribution and will count towards your non-concessional annual limit ($120,000 a year).
Remember also that tax-deductible contributions are limited to $30,000 per year. If your employer makes superannuation guarantee contributions into your account (generally 11.5% of your salary), then this is counted towards the $30,000 limit.
For more information, view our How super works guide.
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If you’ve made a personal after-tax contribution into your super account for which you’ll be claiming a tax deduction, you must claim your deduction before you move your super money into a retirement income product.
If we receive your notice of intent to claim a tax deduction after your retirement income account is set up, and an income stream has commenced based on all or part of the personal contribution, the notice won’t be valid, and you won’t be eligible to claim it as a tax deduction.
Adding more to your super can be a powerful way to build your savings over time and the type of retirement lifestyle you’ve been dreaming of.
Our qualified Financial Planners can help you determine which type of contribution strategy might be right for you.
If you’d like more information about contributing to your super and which types of contributions might be suitable for your circumstances, our team can help.
