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How carry-forward (catch-up) super contributions work

If you feel like you’ve missed the boat when it comes to building your retirement savings, don’t despair. You may be eligible to use an often-overlooked opportunity to put a chunk of cash into your super and reduce your tax bill at the same time.

Using the carry-forward rules to contribute more than the standard annual concessional cap is an easy way to boost your super balance if you have cash to spare.

So, how does it work, and are you eligible?

Watch our video guide below, or continue reading for in-depth detail on how carry-forward contributions work.

SuperGuide members have access to an extended version of this video which includes case studies and demonstrates how you can use free tools to calculate your own tax savings.

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What are carry-forward contributions?

Carry-forward contributions are not a special type of super contribution; they simply allow super fund members to use some or all of their previously unused concessional contributions cap (or limit) on a rolling basis for five years.

This means if you don’t use the full amount of your concessional contributions cap, you can carry forward the unused amount and take advantage of it up to five years later.

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Expiry of unused concessional contributions caps

After five years, any remaining unused concessional contributions cap amounts will expire.

Financial yearConcessional cap for the yearLast financial year in which unused cap can be used
2020–21$25,0002025–26
2021–22$27,5002026–27
2022–23$27,5002027–28
2023–24$27,5002028–29
2024–25$30,0002029–30
2025-26$30,0002030-31

Good to know

Carry-forward contributions were originally called catch-up contributions when first announced in the 2016 Federal Budget. They are now generally referred to as carry-forward concessional contributions.

The rules permitting you to make carry-forward concessional contributions have nothing to do with the bring-forward rules, which allow you to make larger non-concessional (after-tax) contributions into your super account.

Who can benefit from carry-forward contributions?

Carry-forward contributions were introduced to make it easier for people with interrupted or non-standard work patterns to save for their retirement and to benefit from the tax concessions available in the super system.

Annual concessional contribution caps make it difficult to build retirement savings for people who take time out from work, work part time, or have ‘lumpy’ income and periods when they make no or limited super contributions. This includes women who work part time or take time off to care for children or other family members and people who have time out of the workforce for caring responsibilities, further studies, or due to physical or mental illness.

Carry-forward contributions can also be useful for people who find they have more disposable income later in life due to reduced household costs, such as mortgage repayments or school fees, and want to boost their super balance in the lead-up to retirement.

Anyone who wants to contribute more than the standard concessional cap in one financial year can benefit, so long as they meet the eligibility rules below.

Making additional concessional contributions can be a tax-effective way to grow your retirement savings, as these before-tax contributions are only taxed at 15% as they enter your super account, rather than at your marginal tax rate (which can be up to a maximum of 47% including the Medicare levy). Any earnings you receive on your contributions once they are in your super account are also taxed at only 15%. Division 293 tax on super contributions also applies for very high income earners.

What are the eligibility rules?

There are two conditions to meet before you can use your unused concessional cap amounts:

  1. Your Total Super Balance (TSB) must be under $500,000 as at 30 June in the previous financial year. For example, if you want to use the carry-forward rules in 2025–26, your TSB must have been under $500,000 on 30 June 2025.
    • Your TSB is calculated by adding together all the amounts you have in the accumulation phase of super, plus the retirement phase value of your super and any rollovers in transit between super funds on 30 June.
    • If your TSB falls below $500,000 on a subsequent 30 June, you are once again eligible to apply any of your unused concessional contributions cap in a future financial year.
  2. You have made concessional contributions in the financial year exceeding the annual general concessional contributions cap ($30,000 in 2025–26) 

Learn more about your Total Super Balance, what it is used for, and what’s included.

How to check the carry-forward amount available to you

If finding all your old contribution details and working out how much unused cap you have from prior years sounds tricky, we have good news – you shouldn’t need to.

To see your available carry-forward amount, log in to myGov and access the linked ATO service. In the super menu, select information, then carry-forward concessional contributions. 

This will display your unused concessional contributions available to carry forward and confirm whether you are eligible based on your Total Super Balance. The amount shown is the unused cap you have available in addition to the current year’s cap. For example, if you have $60,000 unused cap displayed, you could contribute $90,000 in 2025–26 without exceeding your concessional cap ($60,000 unused from prior years plus $30,000 annual general cap for 2025–26).

Important

Make sure you are looking at the current financial year because MyGov also lists the unused cap for previous financial years.

Also note that the figures for the current financial year may not yet be available in the first few months of the financial year.

If you prefer not to use the online service, you can contact the ATO on 13 10 20 to request details of your unused cap over the telephone.

Need to know

If you have an SMSF, your unused amount from last financial year will not be up to date until the ATO has received and processed your SMSF annual return. If you log in before the return is processed, the unused cap shown will not be accurate because it will not take into account the concessional contributions you made in the last financial year.

If you’re in a defined benefit fund, your contributions information from the prior financial year may not be provided to the ATO until 31 October. You should log in after this date and contact your fund to check the reported concessional amount shown on the ATO system for the year matches their records.

How are carry-forward contributions processed?

You don’t need to fill in any forms or notify your super fund (or anyone else) to use carry-forward. Just make your concessional contributions in the way you usually would – by salary sacrifice through your employer or by making personal tax-deductible contributions

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Your super fund deducts 15% contribution tax. They will not deduct any additional tax when you exceed the general annual contribution cap – all liabilities for excess contribution tax are calculated and levied by the Australian Tax Office (ATO), not super funds.

Your fund will report all your concessional contributions (including those paid by your employer) to the ATO. When you exceed the annual concessional cap in one year, the tax office will automatically carry forward unused cap amounts from prior years (if you are eligible).

The oldest unused cap is used first. When it has been exhausted, the following year’s unused cap will be drawn upon, and so on.

Super tip

Before you can claim a tax deduction for your personal super contributions, including any carry-forward amounts, you will need to submit a form to your super fund. This form is called a Notice of intent to claim or vary a deduction for personal super contributions and can be downloaded from your fund’s website or the ATO. Once your fund processes the form you can claim a tax deduction for the full amount in your annual tax return.

How carry-forward contributions work: Case studies


Case study 1

Kylie’s Total Super Balance was $310,000 on 30 June 2025. She has unused concessional contribution cap amounts from the previous five financial years totalling $82,500, as shown in the table below.

This means she is now eligible to make concessional contributions of up to $112,500 in the current financial year without exceeding her cap ($82,500 unused from prior years plus $30,000 annual general cap).

2020–212021–222022–232023–242024-25
Annual general concessional contributions cap$25,000$27,500$27,500$27,500$30,000
Concessional contributions into Kylie’s account$10,000$10,000$10,000$10,000$15,000
Available unused concessional cap$15,000$17,500$17,500$17,500$15,000
Cumulative available unused concessional cap$15,000$32,500$50,000$67,500$82,500

Kylie decides to make a concessional contribution of $55,000, which exceeds the normal concessional cap by $25,000.

This triggers the ATO to begin using Kylie’s available carry forward. Unused caps are applied in order from the earliest financial year to the most recent financial year. As Kylie exceeded the standard cap by $25,000, the whole unused cap amount of $15,000 from 2020–21 will be used. The remaining $10,000 will be drawn from the $17,500 available unused cap from 2021–22, leaving $7,500 from that year to be carried into the future. If Kylie doesn’t use the remaining $7,500 unused cap from 2021–22 in 2026–27, it will expire.

Thanks to the carry forward measure, Kylie does not exceed her concessional cap, and doesn’t need to pay additional tax on any excess contributions.

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Case study 2

Arun had a Total Super Balance of $490,000 on 30 June. He generally contributes close to the concessional cap amount each year but does have $20,000 in unused cap space available.

Arun would like to use all his available carry forward in the current financial year because his Total Super Balance is likely to be higher than $500,000 by the next 30 June, and he doesn’t expect it to go down again, making him ineligible to use his carry forward amount in future years.

Arun calculates that his employer will contribute $16,500 during the year, so he makes a personal tax-deductible contribution of $33,500, for total concessional contributions of $50,000 ($30,000 annual cap plus $20,000 carried forward).

If Arun’s employer contributes more than $16,500, he will exceed the concessional cap. Any excess contributions will be added to his taxable income to be taxed at his marginal rate minus a 15% offset to account for the tax he paid to contribute to super.


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Responses

  1. Danny Mulia Avatar
    Danny Mulia

    One of my clients has closed her super in the past and got a lumpsum payment by using a compasionate ground, whatever it was. Fast forward now, she still hasn’t met her preservation age and she would like to use carry-forward concessional contributions to reduce the capital gains tax from selling her investment property. The ATO doesn’t have the balance of the carry forward contributions, presumably since she had no super balance left up until now that she opens a new super account. Can she use the carry forward contributions (to the max, including FY2025) considering she had no contributions at all in the last five years? Thanks.

    1. SuperGuide Avatar
      SuperGuide

      Hi Danny,
      Yes, if your client hasn’t made any concessional contributions (or had any made on her behalf) in the last five financial years then she can use the maximum carry forward assuming she is otherwise eligible to make tax deductible super contributions (under 67, or 67-74 and meets the work test). She will have unused concessional cap space of the total value of the concessional cap from each of the last 5 years available.
      The ATO service doesn’t show any available carry forward until they create a contribution record for the individual and this can take some time to appear in MyGov after a contribution is made. We’ve observed this issue previously when people are new migrants to Australia and lack a record of contributions for previous years as a result.
      Best wishes
      The SuperGuide team

      1. Danny Mulia Avatar
        Danny Mulia

        Thank you so much for your clarification. Yes, she is under 67 years old and if I understand your explanation above correctly, she is eligible for the maximum 5 prior years (FY20 to FY24) plus the current year FY25 maximum concessional contributions.

  2. pjvioalee@gmail.com Avatar
    pjvioalee@gmail.com

    Can use in specie transfers to utilise the carry-forward balance?

    1. SuperGuide Avatar
      SuperGuide

      Yes, an in-specie contribution is counted towards contribution caps (and the carry forward balance) in the same way as any other type of contribution.

      If you wish to use the carry-forward balance, remember that this relates to concessional contributions, so the in-specie transfer would need to be claimed as a personal tax-deductible contribution or another type of concessional contribution to qualify.

      Best wishes, The SuperGuide team

  3. Ivan Fisher Avatar
    Ivan Fisher

    If I make a lump sum payment to my superfund , either by salary sacrifice or via personal tax deduction , how does my superfund know what carry forward unused concessional caps I have available to me ? Do they contact the ATO automatically to get a cap balance before deducting the applicable contributions tax ? Or do I have to fill out a form declaring my unused caps and submit to my superfund ? Just interested in the actual mechanics before depositing 3 yrs of unused caps – thanks

    1. SuperGuide Avatar
      SuperGuide

      Hi Ivan – Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.

      How the super fund records the type of contributions made by you depends on your super fund so it would be ideal to contact them to understand their process. Usually, when making a personal contribution into a super fund, the super fund would ask you to categorise the type of contribution. Some super funds have different payment codes depending on the type of contribution you wish to make.

      You can refer to this guide for general information on how carry-forward contributions work.

      Thank you.

  4. Great article! We were not even aware of this carry forward rule.

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