Catch up 5 years $500,000 balance test
Carry-Forward Concessional Contributions
Missed a few years of salary sacrifice? Unused concessional cap can be carried forward for up to five years and used all at once — if your total super balance was under $500,000 at 30 June of the previous income year. This is how people make a large catch-up contribution in a single year.
1 Enter your super balance2 Enter your unused caps3 See your room this year
Step 3 · your result
You can still contribute
$0
concessional this year
- Normal cap for 2026–27
- $0
- Carry-forward available
- $0
- Your total cap this year
- $0
- Balance test
- —
- Tax saved at 45% versus 15%
- $0
Source: Australian Taxation Office — Concessional contributions cap, read in full 13 October 2026. General information only, not personal financial advice.
The two conditions
- a total super balance under $500,000 at 30 June of the previous income year, and
- unused concessional cap amounts from up to 5 previous years.
Both have to be met. A $2 million balance means the carry-forward is not available at all, no matter how many years you missed — that is the whole point of the test. Amounts are still carried forward while your balance is high; they just cannot be used until the balance test is met again, and they expire after 5 years either way.
Concessional cap by year
This is what you were allowed in each year, and therefore what you could leave unused. The cap moves in $2,500 steps, indexed to average weekly ordinary time earnings.
| Income year | General concessional cap |
|---|---|
| 2026–27 | $32,500 |
| 2025–26 | $30,000 |
| 2024–25 | $30,000 |
| 2023–24 | $27,500 |
| 2022–23 | $27,500 |
| 2021–22 | $27,500 |
| 2020–21 | $25,000 |
| 2019–20 | $25,000 |
| 2018–19 | $25,000 |
How the five years work
- Unused amounts start from 2018–19 — nothing before that counts.
- An amount lasts 5 years, then expires.
- The oldest unused amount is used first, so the one closest to expiring goes first.
- They are applied automatically once your contributions exceed the normal cap. There is no form.
- You can carry forward amounts from years you were not even a member of a fund.
In 2026–27 the window is 2025–26, 2024–25, 2023–24, 2022–23, 2021–22. If you have unused amounts from 2020–21, this is the last year to use them.
Two things that catch people
Division 293 still applies. The ATO is explicit that where your concessional cap is increased by carried-forward amounts, all contributions counted under the higher cap are counted for Division 293 purposes. A large catch-up year can add an extra 15% tax on contributions even if your income has not changed.
Contributions are counted when the fund receives them. A contribution on 30 June is a different year's contribution from one on 1 July. That cuts both ways: it can push you over a cap, and it can be used to fill one.
Frequently asked questions
What is the carry-forward rule?
If your total super balance was under $500,000 at 30 June of the previous income year, you can use unused concessional cap from up to 5 previous years to contribute more than the normal cap. It is the main way to catch up after time out of the workforce.
Which years can I look back to?
Unused amounts from 2018–19 onwards. Amounts are available for five years and then expire — so an unused 2020–21 amount is gone if it is not used by the end of 2025–26.
How much could that be?
The most you can accumulate in the window is the sum of the caps for the years you did not use. Five years of missed $30,000 or $32,500 caps builds a large allowance quickly. The ATO's own example: Sam had unused caps of $67,500 going into 2024–25.
Which unused amount gets used first?
The oldest. Unused amounts from the earliest year in the window are applied first, so the ones closest to expiring are used before they are lost.
Do I have to do anything to use them?
No. Unused concessional cap amounts are applied automatically once you exceed the normal cap in a year. Your available carry-forward amounts are shown in ATO online services under Super, Information, then Carry forward concessional contributions.
What happens if I still go over?
Once the carry-forward amounts are applied, anything left over is an excess concessional contribution. The excess is included in your taxable income and taxed at your marginal rate, with a 15% credit for the contributions tax already paid.
Does the balance test look at now or last 30 June?
Last 30 June. It is your total super balance at the end of the previous income year, so a balance that crossed $500,000 during this year does not necessarily stop you — but it will next year.
Related
- Contributions caps — the caps you are carrying forward from
- Division 293 tax — why a catch-up year can trigger extra tax
- Salary sacrifice calculator — what sacrificing does to your take-home pay