What is it?
With salary sacrifice, you have an arrangement with your employer to pay some of your before-tax income into your super, in addition to the usual 11.5% super guarantee contributions paid by your employer.
The two main benefits of salary sacrificing are:
- your super grows faster with the extra super contributions
- you may pay less tax - a salary sacrifice arrangement reduces your taxable income, meaning you may pay less tax on your income. Generally, salary sacrifice contributions are subject to a 15% tax rate instead of your marginal income tax rate.
Generally, making extra before-tax contributions may be tax-effective if you earn more than $45,000 each year. If you earn less than this, you may not benefit from the tax advantages of salary sacrifice.
You should consider seeking advice on what’s right for you.
How to set up salary sacrifice
Salary sacrifice is set up through your employer. Have a chat to someone in payroll or to your manager. Usually, it’s as simple as sending an email letting them know how much you would like to salary sacrifice per pay.
Hi Payroll
I'd like to arrange to have extra contributions made to my Spirit Super account through salary sacrifice.
I request the deduction of the amount shown below from my before-tax pay on a regular basis.
I authorise payroll to transfer my salary sacrifice contributions to Spirit Super.
Employee name: Enter your name Amount each pay period: Enter a dollar amount Please start my salary sacrifice from this date: Enter a date ( DD MM YYYY) Fund name: Spirit Super ABN 74 559 365 913 Super fund USI: MTA0100AU
I understand that this request remains in force until I advise payroll of any change.
I'm aware of the concessional contributions cap of $30,000.
I'm aware that pay rises or bonuses will impact the total amount of contributions that my employer is required to pay under super guarantee legislation.
Personal contributions
The contributions your employer makes are the foundation of your super, but you can add extra by making regular or one-off personal contributions. This will help your super grow faster.
How to make personal contributions
You can make personal contributions from your take-home pay or savings into your super using BPAY®. You’ll need the biller code and your reference number which are shown on your Member statement and in Member Online.
Please note personal and spouse contributions have different biller codes and reference numbers, and we don't accept BPAY® payments from a credit card. The maximum amount you can contribute in a single payment using BPAY® is $120,000.
You can also make personal contributions via cheque. Make your cheque payable to 'Spirit Super' and attach a completed Make a super contribution form.
®Registered to BPAY Pty Ltd ABN 69 079 137 518
Claim a tax deduction for personal contributions
You may be able to claim a tax deduction if during the financial year:
- you've made personal contributions to your super
- you've met the age restrictions
- you've completed your Claim tax deductions in Member Online or you've completed the ATO's Notice of intent to claim or vary a deduction for personal super contributions form, and told us the amount you plan to claim as a deduction
- we've acknowledged your notice of intent to claim a deduction.
Any personal contributions you successfully claim a tax deduction for will count towards your before-tax (concessional) cap. You'll also have to pay contributions tax on the amount you've claimed a deduction for - this will be deducted from your account once your tax deduction claim has been accepted by us.
You can't receive a government co-contribution for personal contributions you've claimed a deduction for.
Read the Claiming tax deductions for contributions fact sheet to find out more. We recommend you get professional advice before claiming a tax deduction.
Super co-contribution
The government may boost your super by up to $500 each year when you pay extra into your super.
How it works
For every $1 you pay into super from your after-tax earnings (up to $1,000 each financial year), the government may contribute up to 50 cents. That’s a boost of up to $500 in your super each year.
The maximum $500 co-contribution is only available if your relevant earnings are equal to or below $45,400 in the 2024-25 financial year.
Am I eligible?
You're eligible for the co-contribution if:
- you make a personal contribution into your super account during the financial year
- your total income is less than $60,400 in 2024-25
- 10% or more of your total income comes from eligible employment, running a business, or a combination of both
- you're less than 71 years old at the end of the financial year
- you didn't hold a temporary visa at any time during the relevant financial year (unless you're a New Zealand citizen or it was a prescribed visa)
- you lodged a tax return for the relevant financial year
- you haven't exceeded your after-tax (non-concessional) cap for the relevant financial year
- your total super balance (across all super funds you participate in) was less than $1.9 million at the end of 30 June 2024.
Note: you can’t get a co-contribution for contributions you claim as a tax deduction or make through salary sacrifice.
How will I get my co-contribution?
If you're eligible, the Australian Tax Office (ATO) will automatically pay the co-contribution directly into your super account. You don’t need to do anything. The payment will be made after you’ve lodged your tax return for the financial year you made the contribution, usually between November and January for the previous financial year.
What is it?
A spouse contribution is an after-tax contribution made into the super fund of an eligible spouse (including a de facto partner). It's a great way for partners to help grow each other's super, particularly if one partner takes a break from work or earns much less than the other.
How does it work?
It’s easy. One member of a couple contributes money into your their partner's super account from their after-tax pay.
It can also have tax benefits. The spouse making the contribution can claim a tax offset for the first $3,000 they contribute each year (if eligible).
How your spouse can make spouse contributions into your account
The easiest way for your spouse to contribute to your account is using BPAY®. They'll need your spouse biller code and your reference number. These are shown on your Member statement and in Member Online.
® Registered to BPAY Pty Ltd ABN 69 079 137 518.
How does your spouse get the tax offset?
If you earn less than $40,000 in a financial year, your spouse or partner may be able to claim a tax offset for making payments into your super account. By paying up to $3,000 into your super in a financial year, they could receive a spouse contribution tax offset of up to $540.
The tax offset reduces by $1 for every dollar of income you earn above $37,000 each year, phasing out at $40,000. Read the Boost your spouse’s super fact sheet to find out more.
Your spouse can pay more than $3,000 into your super, but they won’t receive the spouse contribution tax offset on any amount above this. Spouse contributions count towards your after-tax (non-concessional) cap. Learn more about contribution caps.
When your spouse makes an after-tax contribution to your super account, they can claim the tax offset in their tax return for the financial year they made the contribution.
Contributions caps
To keep things fair for everyone, there are limits to how much you can contribute to super each financial year.
How does it work?
There are different contributions caps for before-tax (concessional) contributions and after-tax (non-concessional) contributions.
Before-tax (concessional) cap
From 1 July 2024, the cap is $30,000 each financial year, but you may be able to contribute more if you have unused caps from previous years. Conditions apply. Find out more in our Super contributions fact sheet.
The $30,000 annual cap includes the total of:
- your employer's 11.5% super guarantee contributions, and any other compulsory employer contributions
- any salary sacrifice contributions made by your employer and
- any personal contributions you've successfully claimed a tax deduction for.
After-tax (non-concessional) cap
From 1 July 2024, the cap is $120,000 each financial year, or up to $360,000 in a three-year period if you're under age 75. You can't make any after-tax contributions in 2024-25 without incurring extra tax if your total super balance (across all super funds you participate in) was $1.9 million or more at 30 June 2024.
The after-tax (non-concessional) cap includes the total of:
- personal contributions you haven't claimed a tax deduction for
- spouse contributions (that you received from your spouse).
What happens if you exceed the contribution caps?
If you exceed the contribution caps, you’ll generally pay extra tax. The ATO will let you know if you've gone over your limits.
Read our How super is taxed fact sheet or call us at 1800 005 166 for more information about treatment of excess contributions.
Re-contribution of COVID-19 early release amounts
If you withdrew money from your super under the COVID-19 early release of super program in 2020, you can re-contribute this amount back into super as a personal after-tax contribution and it won’t count towards your after-tax (non-concessional) cap.
How to re-contribute COVID -19 early release payments
To re-contribute early release payments into your super:
- Fill out and send us a Notice of re-contribution of COVID-19 early release amounts form available at ato.gov.au before or when you make the payment.
- Make a personal contribution to your account.
For your contribution to be counted as a COVID-19 early release re-contribution, you must fill out this form every time you make a re-contribution (before or when you make the payment). If you don't, your contribution will count towards your after-tax (non-concessional) cap.
The re-contribution will count towards your transfer balance cap (this is a lifetime limit on the total amount of super that can be transferred into retirement phase income streams) and your total super balance when they're recalculated to include all your contributions on 30 June at the end of the financial year. Re-contributions can be made until 30 June 2030, and can't exceed the total amount of super you accessed under the COVID-19 early release program. You can't claim a tax deduction for personal contributions made as COVID-19 re-contribution.
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