The bring-forward rule for non-concessional super contributions lets you contribute up to two or three years’ worth of after-tax super contributions in a single financial year without breaching the annual cap. In 2025-26, the annual non-concessional cap is $120,000, so a three-year bring-forward allows up to $360,000 in one hit. From 1 July 2026 the annual cap rises to $130,000, lifting the three-year total to $390,000. Whether you get a three-year window, a two-year window, or none at all depends on your Total Super Balance on the preceding 30 June and your age.1Australian Taxation Office. Non-concessional contributions cap
How the Rule Is Triggered
There is no form to fill in and no notification to lodge. The bring-forward arrangement starts automatically the moment your non-concessional contributions in a financial year exceed the annual cap. From that point, the window locks in for two or three years, depending on which tier you qualify for, and it cannot be reset early. A new bring-forward period can only begin once the existing one has fully expired.
All non-concessional contributions across every super fund you hold count toward the cap. Unreleased excess concessional contributions count as non-concessional amounts too. A small after-tax contribution to a second fund you had forgotten about is one of the most common ways people accidentally trigger a bring-forward period at the wrong moment or overshoot the total limit.
Who Qualifies
Three conditions must all be met.
- You must be under 75 at some point during the financial year in which the bring-forward is triggered. There is no work test for non-concessional contributions for people under 75 from 2022-23 onward.
- Your Total Super Balance on 30 June of the previous financial year must be below the General Transfer Balance Cap. That figure is $2 million for 2025-26 and $2.1 million from 1 July 2026.
- You cannot already be in an active bring-forward period from an earlier year.
If your Total Super Balance is at or above the General Transfer Balance Cap, your non-concessional cap drops to zero for that year. No after-tax contributions of any kind are permitted.
How Much You Can Bring Forward
Your Total Super Balance on the preceding 30 June sorts you into one of four tiers. The tier decides how many years’ worth of cap you can pull forward.
2025-26 (Annual Cap $120,000)
The General Transfer Balance Cap for 2025-26 is $2 million, and the three-year bring-forward totals $360,000 while the two-year bring-forward totals $240,000. The exact balance breakpoints separating the three-year, two-year, and single-year tiers shifted upward when the transfer balance cap moved from $1.9 million to $2 million. The ATO’s non-concessional contributions cap page has the precise thresholds for your situation.1Australian Taxation Office. Non-concessional contributions cap
2026-27 Onward (Annual Cap $130,000)
From 1 July 2026, with the General Transfer Balance Cap at $2.1 million, the tiers work like this:
- Total Super Balance below $1.68 million: three-year bring-forward, up to $390,000 total.
- $1.68 million to less than $1.79 million: two-year bring-forward, up to $260,000 total.
- $1.79 million to less than $2.1 million: no bring-forward. Standard annual cap of $130,000 applies.
- $2.1 million or more: non-concessional cap is nil.
These thresholds are indexed and move with the General Transfer Balance Cap. Check your balance against the thresholds in force for the year you actually contribute, not the year you started planning.
The Age 75 Cut-Off
Turning 75 creates a hard boundary. If your 75th birthday falls during a financial year, you remain eligible for the bring-forward for that entire year, because you were under 75 at some point in it. But the following financial year, in which you are 75 the whole way through, locks you out.
Super funds can accept voluntary contributions for up to 28 days after the end of the month in which a member turns 75. That window does not override the financial-year age rule. If your birthday is in June, the 28-day acceptance window extends into July, and July belongs to the next financial year, in which you are already ineligible. Anyone approaching 75 should plan contributions well before the birthday month.
What the Bring-Forward Locks In
The rules in force when you trigger the arrangement are the rules that apply for its full duration. Trigger a three-year period in 2025-26 with the $120,000 annual cap and your total allowance is $360,000, even though the cap rises to $130,000 from 1 July 2026. You do not get the benefit of the higher cap partway through.
That creates a real strategic question near the end of a financial year when a cap increase is on the horizon. Waiting until 2026-27 to trigger the arrangement gives access to $390,000 instead of $360,000, a difference of $30,000 in extra tax-advantaged space. The cost is the lost investment time on the earlier contribution.
The window does not stretch if caps later drop or if your Total Super Balance grows above a threshold during the period. Once open, you have a fixed number of years and a fixed total cap.
What Happens If You Go Over
Breaching the cap is expensive. The ATO issues an excess non-concessional contributions determination, and you then have 60 days to choose between two options.
The first option is to release the excess. Your fund sends the excess plus 85% of the associated earnings back to the ATO. The associated earnings are added to your taxable income, with a 15% tax offset to account for the contributions tax the fund already paid. The ATO uses the released amount to cover your tax and refunds any balance.
The second option is to leave the excess in super. The excess amount is then taxed at 47% (the top marginal rate plus Medicare levy), and the ATO issues a release authority to your fund to pay that bill.
If you do not respond within 60 days, the ATO defaults to the first option. For most people, that is the less painful result, because the effective tax rate on the released earnings is your marginal rate minus the 15% offset, rather than 47% on the whole excess. Either way, resolution involves amended assessments and can take months.
Check Your Position Before Contributing
Before making a large after-tax contribution, verify two things through myGov and the ATO portal under “Super.” First, confirm your Total Super Balance as at 30 June of the previous financial year. The ATO calculates this from data reported by all your funds, so it captures every account you hold. Second, check whether you are already in an active bring-forward period from an earlier year. If a previous contribution accidentally triggered one, you may have less remaining space than you expect.
One exclusion is worth knowing. Personal injury and structured settlement contributions are subtracted from the Total Super Balance calculation, so a lump-sum injury payout contributed to super does not count against the thresholds that decide your bring-forward eligibility.
Timing the actual payment matters just as much as the numbers. A contribution must be received and cleared in your fund’s account before 30 June to count in that financial year. Payments initiated in the last few days of June often land in July, which can push a contribution into a year outside your bring-forward window and turn it into an excess amount. Have funds cleared by mid-June at the latest.