Downsizer contribution into Super.
Max downsizer contribution
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Turning a home sale into a super top-up
The downsizer contribution lets older Australians put a large chunk of the proceeds from selling their home into superannuation, on top of all the usual limits. It was designed to nudge people who are rattling around in a big family home toward something smaller, freeing up housing stock and giving retirees a tax-friendly place to park the cash. The appeal is the size and the freedom: up to $300,000 each, with no work test and no upper age limit, which is unusual in the super system where most doors close as you get older.
This calculator shows the maximum you can contribute. It caps a single person at $300,000 and a couple at $600,000, then limits that to the actual sale proceeds, because you cannot contribute more than the house sold for. It is built for Australians aged 55 and over who have sold, or are about to sell, a long-held home and want to know how much can flow into super.
Who qualifies and how the cap stacks
There are firm gates. You must be 55 or older when the contribution is made, you or your spouse must have owned the home for at least ten years, it must have been your main residence so it qualified at least partly for the capital gains tax exemption, and the contribution has to be made within ninety days of settlement. For a couple, each partner has their own $300,000 allowance even if only one of them was on the title, which is what makes the $600,000 combined figure possible.
An $800,000 home sale, single versus couple
Using the default sale price of $800,000, the cap depends entirely on whether one or two people are eligible.
| Scenario | Cap | Max contribution |
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A single owner can move $300,000 of the $800,000 into super, leaving $500,000 outside. A couple can move the full $600,000, leaving just $200,000 outside the system. The remaining proceeds are yours to keep, invest, or spend, but only the amount within the cap gets the downsizer treatment.
The catch nobody mentions until it is too late
Downsizer contributions sit outside the concessional and non-concessional caps, which is the headline benefit. But they still count toward your total super balance and toward the transfer balance cap, which limits how much you can move into a tax-free retirement pension. Tip a large downsizer amount in and you may push your balance past the point where you can start a full account-based pension, leaving some of it stuck in the accumulation phase where earnings are taxed at 15 percent rather than zero.
There is also an Age Pension trap. Your home is exempt from the assets test, but money sitting in super once you reach pension age is not. Selling an exempt home and contributing the proceeds can convert a sheltered asset into a counted one, reducing or removing your Centrelink entitlement. The expert move is to model the downsizer alongside your pension position before settlement, not after, because the ninety-day window leaves little room to change your mind.
Can I make a downsizer contribution more than once?
The $300,000 limit applies per person to the sale of one eligible home, and you can only use it once. Selling a second property later does not unlock a fresh downsizer allowance. If you do not use the full amount on your first eligible sale, the unused part cannot be carried to a future sale, so plan the single contribution carefully.
Do I have to actually buy a smaller home afterwards?
No, despite the name. There is no requirement to purchase a replacement home, downsize in size, or even buy anything at all. You could sell and rent, or move in with family. The only test is that you sold a qualifying main residence you had owned for at least ten years and you meet the age and timing rules.