Super contributions - too much super can mean extra tax

Caps apply to contributions made to your superannuation (super) in a financial year. Any super contributed over a cap amount is subject to extra tax. The cap amount and how much extra tax you pay once you exceed it depend upon whether the contributions are:

• concessional - which are generally made to a super fund for or by you in a financial year and are included in the assessable income of the super fund (for example, super guarantee, salary sacrificed amounts and any amount you are allowed as a personal super deduction in your income tax return)
• non-concessional - which are generally made to a super fund by or for you in a financial year and are not included in the super fund's assessable income (for example, personal contributions you make from your after-tax income).

Summary of contributions caps

In the 2010-11 and 2011-12 Federal Budget the government announced future changes to super. These changes, if passed by parliament, will change the information on this page. For a summary of these changes, refer to Changes to super.

	Concessional cap*	Transitional concessional cap**	Non-concessional cap
2011-12, 2010-11 and 2009-10 financial years	$25,000	$50,000	$150,000
2008-09 and 2007-08 financial years	$50,000	$100,000	$150,000
Tax on amounts over the cap	31.5% (in addition to the 15% paid by the super fund)	31.5% (in addition to the 15% paid by the super fund)	46.5%
Other information	Any concessional contributions in excess of the cap will also count towards your non-concessional contributions cap.	Any concessional contributions in excess of the cap will also count towards your non-concessional contributions cap.	If you are under 65 years old at any time during the financial year, you may be able to bring forward the next two years of contributions, but certain conditions apply. This effectively allows you to contribute up to three times the cap at once, or at any time during the three financial years.

*The $25,000 concessional cap will be indexed annually from 2011-12 onwards to average weekly ordinary time earnings (AWOTE) and rounded down to the nearest multiple of $5,000.

**The transitional concessional contributions cap is for those who are 50 years old or older on 30 June in a financial year and is available until 30 June 2012 and is not indexed.

If you are considering making extra contributions to super, ensure you understand some of the consequences by reading this document.