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).
What is the MSCB for 2025-26?
The SG contribution rate is 12% of your earnings up to the maximum super contribution base for the 2025-26 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. Your employer may also choose to pay additional super contributions for you above what is required under the superannuation guarantee and any other mandated amounts.
The MSCB for 2025-26 is $62,500 per quarter ($250,000 per year if you are paid the same amount every quarter), which equals a maximum SG contribution by your employer of $7,500 per quarter ($62,500 x 12%). This means the maximum SG contribution is equal to the concessional contribution cap of $30,000 for the year.
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Until 2024-25 the MSCB was indexed each financial year. If indexation was applied for 2025-26, the higher MSCB would have resulted in compulsory annual concessional contributions above the annual concessional cap. To avoid this, the MSCB was reduced for 2025-26. In future, the MSCB will continue to be calculated to result in maximum SG equal to the concessional cap amount for the year.
Maximum super contributions base (MSCB) for 2025–26 and previous years
| Income year | Income per quarter | Maximum SG contribution per quarter (SG contribution rate x quarterly income) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | $62,500 | $7,500.00 |
| 2024–25 | $65,070 | $7,483.05 |
| 2023–24 | $62,270 | $6,849.70 |
| 2022–23 | $60,220 | $6,323.10 |
| 2021–22 | $58,920 | $5,892.00 |
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 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 2025–26 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 $7,500. 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.
From 2026-27, the MSCB will be based on annual earnings rather than quarterly, to align with the requirement for employers to pay SG on your payday instead of on a quarterly basis. Your employer will be required to pay 12% of your eligible earnings in SG until their total contribution for the financial year reaches the concessional cap. They will then not be required to make further contributions for you until the following financial year.
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