Step 3: Signing a contract for a home and notifying us

Understand the timeframe in which you must either sign a contract or recontribute the released FHSS amount.

Published 8 July 2026

When you must act

If your determination was made on or after the 15 September 2024, you need to sign a contract to purchase or construct a home or recontribute the released amount to your super fund during the period that both:

starts 90 days before requesting your FHSS release amount
ends 12 months (or other period we've allowed) after the date of your request.

If your determination was made on or before the 14 September 2024, you need to sign a contract to purchase or construct a home or recontribute the released amount to your super fund during the period that both:

starts 14 days before requesting your FHSS release amount
ends 12 months (or other period we've allowed) after the date of your request.

Extensions of time

We may grant you an extension of time to sign a contract for a further 12 months, up to a maximum of 24 months after the date of your release request. You don't need to apply for this extension. We will generally grant it unless we have reason to believe that doing so would be inappropriate. We will notify you if an extension is granted.

If you still haven't signed a contract to purchase or construct a home by the end of the 24-month period, you must have done either of the following:

You recontributed an amount into your super fund(s) that is at least equal to your assessable FHSS released amount, less any tax that was withheld. This amount
- is stated in your payment summary and may be less than the total amounts released to you
- must be a non-concessional contribution and you can't claim a tax deduction for it
- means you won’t be able to apply for FHSS again, even though you have recontributed the amount to your super fund.
You decided to keep the released amount and it will be subject to FHSS tax. This is a flat tax equal to 20% of your assessable FHSS released amount.

Notifying us what you do with the release amount

You must notify us what you do with the amount released.

If you sign a contract to purchase or construct your home, and the FHSS determination you used to make your FHSS release request was made:

on or after 15 September 2024, you must notify us within 90 days (or other period we allow) of signing the contract
on or before 14 September 2024, you must notify us within 28 days (or other period we allow) of signing the contract.

If you recontribute the assessable FHSS released amount (less tax withheld) into your super fund, you must notify us within 12 months of the date you requested the release of your FHSS money.

If you don't notify us that you have done one of the above or you choose to keep the FHSS amount, you will be subject to FHSS tax.

Example: purchasing and notifying of a contract to purchase an established home

Kirra meets the eligibility requirements for the FHSS scheme. She requests an FHSS determination on 8 July 2025 and requests release of an amount from her super on 21 August 2025.

On 9 November 2025, Kirra enters a contract to purchase an established townhouse in Devonport with settlement to occur on 14 December 2025.

Kirra must notify us that she has entered a contract to purchase her home by 7 February 2026, being 90 days after she entered the contract, unless we allow her additional time to do so.

End of example

To notify us online:

log in to ATO online services through myGov
select Super, then Manage, then First home saver.

QC107685