Under the super rules, your employer must make regular Superannuation Guarantee (SG) contributions to your super fund as part of your agreed remuneration package.
But for high-income earners, it’s important to know that each year the government sets a quarterly cap on the amount of an employee’s income on which their employer must make SG contributions.
This quarterly cap amount is called the maximum super contribution base (MSCB). As it’s indexed to average weekly ordinary time earnings (AWOTE), it changes every financial year.
What is the MSCB for 2023–24?
The SG contribution rate is 11% of your earnings up to the maximum super contribution base for the 202–24 financial year. If you earn above this limit in a particular quarter, your employer is not required to make SG contributions for the part of your earnings over this limit.
The quarterly MSCB does not apply to other mandated contributions, such as super contributions you are paid under an industrial award or enterprise agreement.
The MSCB for 2023–24 is $62,270 per quarter ($249,080 per year), which equals a maximum SG contribution by your employer of $6,849.70 per quarter ($62,270 x 11%).
The MSCB amounts for previous years are listed in the table below:
Maximum super contributions base (MSCB) for 2022–23 and previous years
Income year Income per quarter Maximum SG contribution per quarter
(SG contribution rate x quarterly income)2023–24 $62,270 $6,849.70 2022–23 $60,220 $6,323.10 2021–22 $58,920 $5,892.00 2020–21 $57,090 $5,423.55 2019–20 $55,270 $5,250.65 2018–19 $54,030 $5,132.85 2017–18 $52,760 $5,012.20
Source: ATO
The MSCB is a quarterly income figure, so it aligns with the requirement for your employer to make SG contributions into your super account on a quarterly basis.
For high-income earners with an irregular income, this requirement may mean you may miss out on some SG. If your income is over the MSCB in a particular quarter due to overtime or a bonus, the amount of SG your employer is required to pay is capped, so you don’t receive an SG contribution on the full amount.
For example, in 2023–24 if you earned $75,000 in one quarter and $57,000 in each of the other three quarters, your total annual income would be below the annualised figure for the MSCB, but the SG contribution for the quarter when you earned $75,000 would be capped at $6,849.70. If your annual earnings were evenly spread throughout the year, you would receive a higher total SG contribution as each quarter’s earnings would be below the cap and all your income would attract SG.
Maggie says
Question: If an employee earns more than $60,220K per quarter in 2022-2023, their super is capped at earnings of $60,220K per quarter.
If however yearly earnings are less than the average of $60,220K per quarter, is there a catch up?
SuperGuide says
Hi Maggie – Thank you for your question, and sorry for the delay in responding.
The article refers to the fact that the maximum super contribution base applies quarterly to align with the requirements for your employer to make super guarantee contributions into your super account on a quarterly basis. As per the example in that article, the income earned in a particular quarter matters which could be different to another quarter. However, we suggest you consult your employer or a financial adviser to understand your specific situation.
Best wishes
The SuperGuide team