Super is the part of your pay you don’t see until retirement, but it is a large part. For most employees in Australia, the employer pays an extra slice of salary into a super fund every payday, and many people add to it through salary sacrifice. This guide explains how the super guarantee works in the 2026–27 income year, what changed on 1 July 2026, how the concessional contributions cap and the contributions tax work, and what salary sacrifice really costs your take-home pay.
Every figure is calculated live by the superannuation calculator.
The short version
Your employer must pay 12% of your earnings into your super fund, on top of your salary. On a $100,000 salary that is $12,000 a year. The fund pays 15% tax on it, leaving $10,200 added to your balance.
If you also sacrifice $10,000 of that salary into super, your yearly take-home pay falls by only $6,800, because the sacrificed pay escapes income tax and the Medicare levy.
$10,800
- Super guarantee per month
- $900
- Salary sacrifice
- $0
- Total concessional contributions
- $10,800
- Concessional cap left
- $21,700
- Over the concessional cap
- $0
- 15% contributions tax in the fund
- $1,620
- Added to super after contributions tax
- $9,180
- Personal tax saved by salary sacrifice
- $0
- Fall in take-home pay
- $0
- Overall gain from salary sacrifice
- $0
- From 1 July 2026 employers pay super on each payday ("payday super"), at 12% of qualifying earnings including any salary you sacrifice.
- Carry-forward of unused cap (total super balance under $500,000) and personal deductible contributions are not modelled.
Employer super: $10,800 a year at 12% ($900 a month)
Show the breakdown
| Line | Per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Salary (qualifying earnings) | $90,000 | $7,500 |
| Employer super guarantee (12%) | $10,800 | $900 |
| Concessional contributions | $10,800 | $900 |
| 15% contributions tax (paid by the fund) | −$1,620 | −$135 |
| Added to your super | $9,180 | $765 |
- Super guarantee$10,80033%
- Cap left$21,70067%
The 12% super guarantee
The super guarantee (SG) is the minimum your employer must contribute for you. For 2026–27 the rate is 12% of your qualifying earnings, which include your ordinary time earnings and any salary you sacrifice into super.Federal Register of Legislation
That last point matters. Salary sacrifice doesn’t reduce your SG: your employer still works out super on your full salary before the sacrifice. On an $80,000 salary, SG is $9,600 a year with no sacrifice and $9,600 with $5,000 sacrificed.
Payday super from 1 July 2026
Until 30 June 2026, employers could pay super quarterly. From 1 July 2026 the employer’s super guarantee amount arises on each payday, so super is now paid at the same rhythm as your wages: weekly, fortnightly or monthly. On $80,000 paid monthly, that is $800 a month.
For employees, payday super means money reaches your fund sooner and starts earning returns earlier. It also makes missing payments easier to spot. Your super fund’s statement or app should show a contribution soon after each payday, and if it doesn’t, ask your employer.
Your payslip should also show the super your employer owes for that pay. Check it against your qualifying earnings: overtime is generally not ordinary time earnings, so super on a pay with a lot of overtime can look low without anything being wrong. If you think super is missing, raise it with your employer first, then with the ATO.
The maximum contributions base
SG has a ceiling. Once your qualifying earnings from one employer pass the maximum contributions base of $270,830 for the year, your employer doesn’t have to pay SG on the rest. On a $300,000 salary, SG is $32,500, not the full rate on the whole salary.
The base is set from the concessional cap, so that SG from one employer alone can’t push you over the cap. If you have two jobs, each employer applies the base separately, and you can go over the cap without doing anything.
Plus super or including super
Job ads and contracts quote pay in two ways. “$90,000 plus super” means a salary of $90,000 with SG paid on top. “$90,000 including super” is a total package, and your salary is what is left after taking the super out:
| Advertised as | Super a year | Take-home a fortnight |
|---|---|---|
| $90,000 plus super | $10,800 | $2,718 |
| $90,000 including super | $9,643 | $2,465 |
When you compare job offers, compare them on the same basis.
The concessional contributions cap
Concessional contributions are the before-tax ones: SG, salary sacrifice and personal contributions you claim as a tax deduction. For 2026–27 they are limited to $32,500 a year across all your funds.Federal Register of Legislation The cap is indexed to full-time adult average weekly ordinary time earnings and rose on 1 July 2026.Australian Bureau of Statistics
SG uses up part of the cap before you sacrifice anything. On $100,000, SG alone leaves $20,500 of room. On $150,000 it leaves $14,500.
If your total super balance is low enough, you may be able to use unused cap from earlier years. The calculator doesn’t model these carry-forward amounts or personal deductible contributions.
The 15% contributions tax
Your fund pays tax of 15% on concessional contributions when they arrive.Federal Register of Legislation You don’t pay it yourself and it doesn’t appear on your payslip; it is simply deducted inside the fund. This is the reason salary sacrifice can save tax: pay sacrificed into super is taxed at this rate instead of at your marginal rate plus the Medicare levy.
What salary sacrifice saves
When you sacrifice salary, three things happen at once: your taxable income falls, your take-home pay falls by less than the amount sacrificed, and your super rises by the sacrifice less the fund’s tax.
| Salary | Sacrificed | Personal tax saved | Take-home falls by | Overall gain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $60,000 | $5,000 | $1,675 | $3,325 | $925 |
| $80,000 | $5,000 | $1,600 | $3,400 | $850 |
| $100,000 | $10,000 | $3,200 | $6,800 | $1,700 |
| $150,000 | $10,000 | $3,900 | $6,100 | $2,400 |
“Personal tax saved” is the fall in income tax, Medicare levy and any HELP repayment for the year. “Overall gain” is what reaches your super after the fund’s tax, minus the take-home pay you gave up. The gain depends on your marginal rate. At $60,000 and $80,000 the next dollar is taxed at 30% (at $60,000 the low income tax offset also tapers, which adds a little), and at $150,000 at 37%, so each dollar sacrificed saves more. Here is the $100,000 case in full:
| Line | Per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Salary (qualifying earnings) | $100,000 | $8,333 |
| Employer super guarantee (12%) | $12,000 | $1,000 |
| Salary sacrifice | $10,000 | $833 |
| Concessional contributions | $22,000 | $1,833 |
| 15% contributions tax (paid by the fund) | -$3,300 | -$275 |
| Added to your super | $18,700 | $1,558 |
In your pay, the same $5,000 sacrifice on $80,000 takes fortnightly take-home pay from $2,455 to $2,325.
Salary sacrifice, HELP and the surcharge
Salary sacrifice lowers your taxable income, but not every income test. Sacrificed amounts are reportable super contributions, which are added back when working out your HELP repayment income and your income for Medicare levy surcharge purposes.Federal Register of Legislation
So sacrificing doesn’t cut your study loan repayment. On $80,000 with a $5,000 sacrifice, the tax saved is $1,600 with a HELP debt, the same as $1,600 without one. Nor does it get you under a surcharge threshold. The Medicare levy guide explains the surcharge income test.
Going over the cap
If SG plus salary sacrifice comes to more than $32,500, the excess is added to your taxable income and taxed at your marginal rate, with a credit for the tax the fund has already paid. A $200,000 salary leaves room for only $8,500 of salary sacrifice. The calculator shows how far over the cap a contribution goes, but its tax-saving figures don’t include the extra tax on the excess, so keep sacrifices within the cap when comparing.
Division 293 for high earners
If your income plus your concessional contributions is more than $250,000, Division 293 tax adds an extra charge on some or all of those contributions. It is assessed to you personally, not to the fund.Federal Register of Legislation The calculator tells you when you are likely to be affected, but doesn’t work out the amount. For people above the threshold, the saving from salary sacrifice is smaller than the table above suggests.
Is salary sacrifice worth it?
Salary sacrifice suits people who have room under the cap, can manage on lower take-home pay and won’t need the money before they can access their super. It does less for people on low incomes, where the gap between their own tax rate and the fund’s rate is small. A government offset refunds some contributions tax for low earners, which the calculator doesn’t include.
Remember that money in super is locked away until you reach preservation age and retire, or meet another condition of release. Salary sacrifice suits long-term saving, not money you may need in the next few years or in an emergency. If your employer doesn’t offer salary sacrifice, you can usually make a personal contribution and claim it as a tax deduction instead; it counts towards the same cap, but the calculator doesn’t model it.
Before you start, check that your employer keeps paying SG on your pre-sacrifice salary, as the law requires, and decide how much to sacrifice by looking at your remaining cap. Try different amounts in the superannuation calculator, and use the pay calculator to see the effect on each payslip. The take-home pay guide puts super in the context of the rest of your pay.
Figures are estimates for 2026–27 worked out from the superannuation and tax legislation. They are not financial or tax advice.
