Division 293 super tax explained (including calculator)

For most high-income earners, saving for retirement through super is a sensible, tax-effective strategy; but there are limits. As your income rises, you could end up paying extra tax on your concessional (before-tax) super contributions.

Under the Division 293 tax rules, if your income and concessional contributions total more than $250,000 in a financial year, you may have to pay an additional 15% tax on some or all of your super contributions.

Division 293 tax is imposed on top of the normal 15% contributions tax paid on concessional contributions when they enter your super account.

What Division 293 tax means for high-income earners

Division 293 tax is an extra charge imposed on some of the super contributions made by higher-income earners to reduce the tax benefits they receive from the super system.

If your income plus any ‘low tax’ super contributions totals more than $250,000 in a financial year, you are liable for Division 293 tax of 15% on the amount of the low tax contributions above this threshold.

Low tax contributions are concessional contributions that are within your concessional contribution cap.

Why do I have to pay Division 293 tax?

The extra 15% tax imposed under the Division 293 rules is applied because, as a high-income earner, your marginal tax rate (without the 2% Medicare levy) for income amounts over $190,000 is 45% (in 2025–26). When you make a concessional contribution into your super account, however, you only pay a 15% tax rate.

This means you are receiving a bigger saving on your tax bill by making super contributions than someone earning between $45,001 and $135,000 (whose marginal tax rate is 30% in 2025–26).

To make things fairer, Division 293 imposes an additional tax of 15% on higher income earners to bring the amount of tax they save on their super contributions closer to that paid by someone on an average income.

Unfortunately, Division 293 tax is applied even if your income goes over the $250,000 threshold due to a one-off event – such as making a capital gain or receiving an eligible termination payment or salary bonus.

In these situations, the tax rate for your concessional contributions during that financial year increases if you exceed the threshold but drops back the following year when your income goes back under the Division 293 threshold.

Division 293 tax income and contributions

The ATO calculates your Division 293 income and Division 293 super contributions by:

1. Determining your income for Division 293 tax purposes