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Home / How super works / Super rules / Understanding the difference between your total superannuation balance and your transfer balance cap

Understanding the difference between your total superannuation balance and your transfer balance cap

February 4, 2021 by Penny Pryor Leave a Comment

Reading time: 4 minutes

On this page

  • Total superannuation balance (TSB)
  • The transfer balance cap (TBC)
  • The bottom line

Superannuation is a complex issue, but it pays to understand the laws and regulations that apply to it or you could be making some costly mistakes.

In 2017 two new technical terms (and the regulations that apply to them) were introduced to super.

From 1 July 2017 the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) began to use:

  • The total superannuation balance (TSB) to determine a fund member’s eligibility for certain types of contributions, and
  • The transfer balance cap (TBC) to determine eligibility for tax exemptions for income earned on fund investments that support pensions.

“The major stumbling block is that both the TSB and TBC caps are $1.6 million. People think the amounts counted towards the caps are the same, which is not the case,” SuperConcepts executive manager, SMSF Technical and Private Wealth, Graeme Colley says.

The caps are due to rise on 1 July this year, which may create further confusion.

“Going forward, indexation of the caps will be an issue as anyone who has already commenced a pension and used some of their TBC, will probably end up with different caps compared to others,” Colley says.


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Total superannuation balance (TSB)

Let’s start with total superannuation balance. This is a fairly easy concept to understand. It’s the total amount of money you have in your superannuation at any one time.

If you are in accumulation phase and have just one super account, then your TSB will be the number that appears on your statement. If you have more than one super account, it will be the total of all the accounts, which you can find in your myGov account once it is linked to the ATO.

The ATO says your TSB equals the sum of the following:

  • the accumulation phase value of your super interests that are not in the retirement phase
  • the retirement phase value of your super interests
  • the amount of each roll-over super benefit not already reflected in the accumulation phase value or the retirement phase value (that is, rollovers in transit between super funds on 30 June)
  • in certain circumstances, the outstanding balance belonging to a limited recourse borrowing arrangement (LRBA) in an SMSF (or other regulated super fund with less than five members) you entered into from 1 July 2018, if either
    • the LRBA is with an associate of the fund
    • you have satisfied a condition of release with a nil cashing restriction

Your TSB matters when you are considering making certain types of contributions to your super in addition to the superannuation guarantee (currently 9.5% of your ordinary time wages) made by your employer.

Your TSB balance and concessional contributions

If your TSB was below $500,000 as at 30 June for any year after 2019 you may be able to increase your concessional contributions cap and carry forward concessional contributions if you have unused portions for previous financial years.

“To do so you must have unused concessional contributions cap space for one or more of the previous five years, starting from 2018–19,” the ATO says.

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The annual concessional contribution limit currently sits at $25,000 and includes SG contributions made by your employer.

For example, say you are earning $35,000 a year and your employer makes employer (before-tax) contributions of $3,500 a year for the financial years ending 30 June 2019 and 30 June 2020.

Your TSB on 1 July 2020 was $400,000 and you haven’t made any other contributions to super. Therefore, you have capacity to make catch-up concessional contributions of $43,000, that is, ($25,000-$3,500) x 2. You also have the annual $25,000 concessional contributions cap available to use in 2020–21.

If your TSB had been more than $500,000 you would not have been eligible to make the catch-up contributions.

Your TSB balance and non-concessional contributions

Your total super balance will also impact whether you can make non-concessional contributions to super. If your TSB is equal to or greater than the cap – which is currently $1.6 million but will increase to $1.7 million on 1 July 2021 – at the end of the financial year you can’t make non-concessional contributions. If you do make contributions and your TSB exceeds the limit, the tax incurred on those contributions will be at the highest marginal tax rate.

Your TSB must also be lower than the transfer balance cap to be eligible for the co-contribution and spouse tax offset.

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Need to know

If you have an SMSF you need to be aware of the TSB of all members as it can impact how to calculate exempt current pension income (Learn more in SuperGuide article What SMSF trustees need to know about ECPI).


The transfer balance cap (TBC)

The transfer balance cap is a little more complex, but the good news is you don’t need to worry about it too much if you’re only in accumulation phase. It only comes into play as you approach or enter retirement.

The TBC is the limit on the amount you can transfer from accumulation phase to support a retirement income stream. It is currently $1.6 million but will be indexed higher to $1.7 million on 1 July 2021.

It’s important because the income earned on capital supporting a pension is concessionally taxed in the fund at 0%. A cap was introduced to limit the amount of tax-free funds available to retirees in pension phase.

A transfer balance account will be established for you once you start a retirement income stream. It’s a record of all the events that count towards your TBC.


Good to know

It’s important to remember that the amount in your transfer balance account and your total super balance are calculated differently.

“Your transfer balance account is calculated on amounts that you transfer into retirement phase to support a pension or annuity over the course of your lifetime,” the ATO explains.


What is, and isn’t, included in my transfer balance cap?

If you start a transition to retirement income stream (TRIS) before you retire, it will not be included in your transfer balance account. This also applies to any amount you have in an accumulation account. 

The ATO says that a TRIS starts to count towards your TBC on the day it becomes a retirement phase income stream based on its value on that day.


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However, all your retirement income stream amounts at any point in time and your accumulation amounts are included in your TSB.

The amount supporting a retirement income stream is counted against your TBC at the time you commence the pension. Any pension payments or income added to your account do not change the amount counted against your TBC.

You can have more than one pension, but the total amount of pensions counted against your TBC balance are not to exceed your TBC otherwise a tax penalty will apply. You will also be required to reduce your pensions counted for TBC purposes to your cap amount.

The bottom line

Although the same limit applies to both your transfer balance amount and your total superannuation balance in some instances, they are not the same thing. It’s important to remember how they are calculated to avoid extra tax.

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Learn more about the super rules in the following SuperGuide articles:

Superannuation rule changes: Your guide for 2020/21

June 30, 2020

Key superannuation rates and thresholds for 2020/21

June 29, 2020

In your 70s? The super rules that apply to you

May 1, 2020

In your 60s? The super rules that apply to you

May 1, 2020

In your 50s? The super rules that apply to you

May 1, 2020

In your 20s, 30s or 40s? The super rules that apply to you

May 1, 2020

In your teens? The super rules that apply to you

May 1, 2020

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