Self-Employed Super Calculator
Plan concessional super contributions within the $32,500 cap and 5-year carry-forward, and see the tax saved at your marginal rate.
Cap rose from AUD 30,000 (FY2024-25/FY2025-26) to AUD 32,500 from 1 July 2026 (indexed to AWOTE in $2,500 increments). Includes employer SG + salary sacrifice + any personal deductible contributions combined. Contributions are taxed at 15% inside the fund (30% — Division 293 — on the portion of combined income + contributions above $250,000). UNLIKE Malta-style flat credit schemes, Australia gives NO separate 'reliefRate' credit: a self-employed/sole-trader person claims a personal deduction for contributions made from their own funds via a s290-170 notice of intent lodged with their fund, which simply reduces ordinary taxable income at their marginal rate (so reliefRate is deliberately left unset here — model it as an income-tax deduction, not a flat credit). Unused cap from the past 5 financial years can be carried forward if Total Super Balance was under $500,000 at the end of the prior financial year.
Superannuation when nobody's paying it for you
Contractors and sole traders don't get the automatic 12% Superannuation Guarantee an employee receives, so building retirement savings is entirely a matter of your own contributions — but the tax rules around those contributions are the same ones everyone else uses, and worth understanding properly.
For FY2026-27, the concessional (before-tax) contributions cap is $32,500, up from $30,000 in the prior financial years, having been indexed to Average Weekly Ordinary Time Earnings in $2,500 increments from 1 July 2026. This cap covers any employer Superannuation Guarantee, salary sacrifice, and personal deductible contributions combined. As a sole trader, you claim a deduction for your own contributions by lodging a notice of intent to claim with your super fund under section 290-170 — this reduces your ordinary taxable income at your marginal rate, rather than giving you a flat credit.
How to use this calculator
- Enter your business profit and the super contribution you're planning to make
- Check it against the $32,500 concessional cap for FY2026-27
- See the tax saved at your marginal rate against the 15% tax paid inside the fund
- Review whether you have unused cap from the past 5 years available to carry forward
