Non-concessional cap check.
Annual cap available
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3-year bring-forward
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Your breakdown
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After-tax money into super, and the limit on it
Non-concessional contributions are the after-tax dollars you put into super out of your own pocket, money you have already paid income tax on, so no further contributions tax applies inside the fund. They are how people pour a windfall, an inheritance, or the proceeds of a downsized home into the low-tax super environment. But the government caps how much you can add this way, currently $120,000 a year, to stop super being used as an unlimited tax shelter. This tool checks your total super balance and tells you how much non-concessional headroom you actually have, including whether you can use the powerful bring-forward rule.
The bring-forward rule and the balance gate
The bring-forward rule lets younger savers pull up to three years of the annual cap into a single year, contributing as much as $360,000 at once. It is invaluable when you have a one-off lump sum to invest. But eligibility hinges on your total super balance on 30 June of the previous financial year. Below roughly $1.78 million you get the full three-year, $360,000 bring-forward. Between about $1.78 million and $1.9 million the room shrinks: you may get only one or two years of the cap. And once your balance hits $1.9 million, your non-concessional cap is nil, because you have reached the transfer balance cap that governs how much can sit in super on these terms. This tapering is precisely what the tool checks for you.
An $800,000 balance, full headroom
Say your total super balance on 30 June was $800,000. That is comfortably below the $1.78 million gate, so you have the maximum available. The tool reports an annual cap of $120,000 and a three-year bring-forward of $360,000.
Push the balance up toward the gates and the headroom collapses. At a balance in the $1.78 million to $1.9 million band the tool drops you to the annual cap only with no bring-forward, and above $1.9 million it reports that no non-concessional contributions are allowed at all. The visual shows how the available cap steps down as the balance climbs.
Timing, downsizing, and the costly slip-ups
The non-concessional rules are unforgiving about timing, so a couple of practical points matter. Once you trigger the bring-forward by contributing more than $120,000 in a year, you lock in a fixed three-year window, and your cap for the following two years is set to whatever you have left of the $360,000. Contribute the full amount in year one and you have nothing left for years two and three. Many people deliberately spread contributions to keep flexibility. There is also an age limit: you generally need to be under 75 to use the bring-forward, with the contribution made before the relevant cut-off after your 75th birthday.
One feature sits outside these caps entirely and is worth knowing: the downsizer contribution. If you are 55 or over and sell a home you have owned for at least ten years, you can contribute up to $300,000 of the proceeds, or $600,000 for a couple, without it counting against the non-concessional cap or the balance test at all. That can be combined with the bring-forward for a very large one-off injection. The expensive mistake to avoid is breaching the cap by accident, often by forgetting a contribution made earlier in the year or misjudging your 30 June balance; excess non-concessional contributions can be taxed at the top marginal rate of 47 percent on the associated earnings if you do not elect to withdraw them, which turns a tax shelter into a penalty.
Why is my balance on 30 June the number that matters?
The cap rules use a snapshot of your total super balance at the end of the previous financial year, not your balance today, because the system needs a fixed point to assess eligibility for the whole coming year. This means a strong market or a large contribution in one year can reduce your headroom the next. Always check the 30 June figure across all your super accounts, not just one fund, when planning a contribution.
Can my spouse and I each use the full bring-forward?
Yes, the caps are per person. If you each have a total super balance under the $1.78 million gate, you can each contribute up to $360,000 under the bring-forward, putting as much as $720,000 of after-tax money into super between you. This is a common strategy for couples investing an inheritance or business sale proceeds, and equalising balances between partners also helps keep each of you under the various super thresholds.